Number Six
by cgaussie01
Summary: AU story. Number Six was rasied, tortured, in an underground government facility. Here we watch his life unfold, the choices he makes, losses he experiences, and what truly defines him. Completed.
1. Chapter 1

"Code Nemoy, I repeat. Code Nemoy."

The code sent shock waves through the channels of information, running along wires like wild fire through a dry brush in the bush. Never before had the Code Nemoy been deployed; it's meaning translated that there was incoming, unidentified objects hurtling towards Earth. At first the assumption was an asteroid, ready to burn up in the atmosphere. However that was scrapped the second that the two objects began to move as if they had control over their direction. Their estimated landing sight changed every second as they tracked them, until one of them was all but bounced off course by the other and went in a totally different reaction.

Reports through the city came pouring in, of something bouncing across roof tops, smacking into pavement and leaving quite obvious cracks in the four inches thick of cement that made up most side walks. Men in suits barked orders at their underlings, to work out both of the unidentified objects locations. Through unscheduled maintenance though, the computer that had been following one of the pods suddenly began to act up, the screen beginning to go on the fritz and the system literally set fire.

As most employees hurried to push out the flames, one man remained at his post, following the location of the second pod.

"Sir we have a lading, we have a landing!" he called to his superior officer, turning in his seat and removing his head phones as smoke began to activate the sprinkler system high above everyone's heads.

"Well where? _Where_?" asked a man with a large jaw and wide, strong chest decorated with multiple awards and medals for service to his country.

"What the Hell is that thing?"

The Warden's day was supposed to be an average, every day kind of day. Sure, it was Christmas Eve and the jail was being fairly quiet but it was still a workday. He had expected to roll up to his office, handle the usual paper work, dispense order and organize the roster for the upcoming week where Christmas and New Year shared in the same seven days... but what he hadn't planned on was his guards yelling about something landing in the court yard of the prison. The guards had worked quickly, herding the prisoners like the animals that they were back into their cells. A fair few of them had put up a fight, but after a few strikes to the body with batons they knew better then to fuss any more then usual, and were led away.

In the centre of the court yard, in a small crater, sat a small round pod. Even as he stepped out into the yard the warden could hear the cries of something small and young inside of it. A baby? How did a baby... and in something like that...? Was this some kind of stunt, a joke? The skeptic inside him wanted to believe it was all a hoax by some teenagers or college potheads who thought it funny to try and cause a riot in the prison. But once he reached the front of the pod and stared down the skeptic inside him shrivelled up and died on the spot.

A baby sat within the pod, his skin as blue as a bright summer's day and eyes the color of green he had never seen the likes of before. In its grasp was a small glass orb that held a tiny fish, which made him think of anglers and piranhas. The little baby, clad in a blue one piece, was screaming loudly like any child would when waking in a strange alien place.

"What on Gods green Earth..." the warden heard his mouth say, and he began to approach closer when the sounds of helicopters suddenly filled the air, accompanied by the rumbling noise that only big trucks could give off. He spun on the spot and jumped when a large army truck promptly rode into the fence of the prison and knocked it over. The helicopters hover and ropes come falling out, and men clad in black body armour came leaping out, sliding down the ropes with expertise. Enraged at seeing such an attack on his prison the warden rushed forward. "Just what in the name of Hell is happening?" he demanded one of the men in black who grabbed him and shoved him into the arms of another, shouting something about getting the man in the suit out of here.

The warden looked over his shoulder desperately as he saw a group of men approaching the crater and the pod, and despite all the sounds of men's voices and the drowning thundering noise of helicopters and rumbling engines, he could still hear the screaming of the baby... whatever it was. He was led back into his office by the service men, which refused to say a word to him despite his protests. This was his prison, just wait until the mayor heard of this. They had done thousands of damage by breaking down the fences surrounding the yard, but neither of them seemed to care about his outbursts, or his threats.

Outside he heard the helicopters begin to take off, tasks completed. Still there was the crying of the baby, who tugged at his mind and heartstrings for his wife had only just had their first child a year ago. A crying baby meant multiple things, hunger, cold, heat, thirst, discomfort, fear, pain... he could decipher his daughter's cries by now, but this blue baby's cries were a tumbled mess of everything and nothing.

It would haunt his nightmares for years.

A red telephone rang, and a man behind a desk reached out and picked it up. "Speak to me." he said simply.

"Sir, reporting from the Metro City incident." came an electric sounding voice over the line, distorted to hide identities just as the man behind the desks voice would be distorted to the other man on the phone. "We have collected two specimens, both extremely young. One appears human enough, but the skin is a bright blue and the cranium is at least two times the size of a normal human being."

"And the second?" the man asked.

"Aquatic in nature. We'll know more about their biology once we get them back to the base." came the reply.

"Keep me posted." and the red receiver was placed back home, and the man at the desk leaned back and put his hands together. This was an amazing discovery. Actual alien life, discovered here on Earth! Crash landing here, for that matter too. It was like something out of a sci-fi movie. But fate had slapped them in the face, instead of grown, intelligent beings they had been sent thumb-sucking babies. What was Earth, a baby-sitting service? The fish would be of little importance to their researching, but the humanoid one would be impartial to their organization. They had never found a live alien before, all those located before were dead before impact, as if Earth was a cemetery.

At least a baby-sitting service was one up from a cemetery. It was better then nothing.

The little fish was stressed out, that much was obvious. All around it was a blinding white color, the water was cold and unfeeling as its surroundings and appeared to be actually reacting to the loss of the blue child by its side. It swam around in the square container it had been transferred into, now and then it was swimming so violently that it smacked into glass now and then, dazing itself only to do the same thing again. The room was devoid of life, but that didn't mean the fish was alone. In all corners of the room a camera sat, watching and recording everything.

The images were being sent to further research departments but the closest people to the fish were on another side of a panel of glass, watching its frenzied actions.

"Subject appears to be reacting to the environment. It's aware of its surroundings." said a man with a black tie strung loose around his neck.

"Make note, began erratic behaviour once separated from the other." added another man, this one wearing a red tie, but his done up tight and properly.

"Maybe it feels it is a guardian, or could there be a telepathic link there?"

"Doubtful. Its brain is about the same size as any ordinary fish." replied his co-worker with a shake of his head. "But the increased size of the frontal lobes of the alien child... well, you can't even begin to guess what it might be capable of."

"Have we got a read on that antennae atop its head yet, what is it for?" asked Black Tie man.

"Negative. The technology is beyond our scope, the material it's made of, along with the pod, is not of this earth. Greatest discovery of the decade." replied Red Tie.

"Do you think extracting it is possible?" Black Tie pondered aloud, scribbling on a piece of paper a picture of the fish from as many angles as he could as it continued swimming in crazed circles.

"Possible. It might be connected to its brain. Extraction might mean death. We can't risk that until we study it more." Red Tie pointed out as he leaned closer to the glass, looking at the fish who was now beginning to calm down, exhausted by its actions. They both leaned forward, watching. "Subject has calmed. Send in the intern."

Black Tie repeated the order into a phone and both waited with baited breath as a door to the room slowly opened. In walked a slim, but still well built, young man. He was wearing a white plastic suit over his regular clothes, and looked very apprehensive to enter the room. But still it was his job, so he approached the fish's tank slowly but equally intrigued by the small animal within.

The fish opened its brown eyes and locked onto the young intern, and its tiny fins began to move quickly yet it stayed in one spot.

"Look, it's acting like a regular fish..." Black Tie observed as the tiny fish swam into the closest corner of the tank, and bumped against the glass in an almost stupid action. "Is it acting? That's amazing...!"

"So when in the company of other creatures it takes on the persona of a regular, unintelligent earth fish?" asked Red Tie, unsure of what he thought of this advancement in their research. The intern, inside the white sterile room, walked closer to the tank and looked down into it, the small fish now swimming around in dazed circles. "A disguise within it's own appearance. People will naturally assume it a regular fish and if it acts that way it would be left alone...! That's amazing. Would it have done the same behaviour back on its original planet?" Red Tie was now thinking quickly and deeply over the fish and it's map that it clearly had in its mind.

So enrapt they were, the two men almost missed what happened next. The fish suddenly turned, and actually leapt clear out of the water. The intern backed up, shocked, but not as much as when its jaws opened to reveal rows of sharp, serrated teeth. Painfully the fish latched its sharp teeth into the man's nose and cheek, sending blood arching in a painful spray. The intern screamed at the pain rocking through his body as those tiny teeth dug deeper, and the fish wriggled its jaws like a shark did in the oceans when attacking dinner.

Red and Black Tie cried out in alarm as the saw the blood continue to gush out of the interns face, and hit alarm buttons as the man tried to pull the fish off of his face before going into shock. But the fish was slippery, and small, as well as determined. The room suddenly flooded with more men, one with a needle. They grabbed the fish and injected the clear fluid into the tiny body and almost instantaneously the fish went limp, and almost dropped to the floor before another man caught it. The intern, face practically ripped open with pieces of his own flesh hanging like loose clothing, was rushed out of the room and left a trail of blood in his wake.

"_Did you see that?_" Black Tie asked, eyes wide.

"He practically tore his _face_ open!" Red Tie gaped. "That was incredible! Such speed for an aerodynamically challenged species! Just look at the blood!"

How could one not? The white interior of the room was splattered with blood, the walls, floor, and even the ceiling from when the fish had nicked a vital vein in the man's face. The small fish, still limp and dead eyed was put back in the water, this time a lid being affixed to the top of the tank. It sank like a stone, and made a dull 'thump' as it hit the bottom as red plumes of blood drifted from its still open mouth. It had chunks of flesh still caught in its teeth.

"Very dangerous, extremely..." Black Tie mused. "We may be unable to truly examine it while it's still living."

"Keep it alive a little while longer. We'll experiment with pain receptors in the brain and other means, to see how its reaction would be. _Then_ we can terminate it, and do a proper biological study and find out how it works. From the x-rays it appears to share the same biological outline as our oceans fish. Besides, I want to see that antennae up close, and see what it's capable of."

"Agreed." Black Tie replied, and both men nodded to each other before going out to lunch to enjoy some sushi. Naturally once outside the base neither of them could speak to one another of what they had witnessed inside, it was simple office policy. In fact, neither men knew each others name, if they were married, divorce, single or anything. The men and women who worked within this secret organization operating within the government knew little to nothing of their co-workers and that's the way it had been since Roswell. That was the way it was going to be until the end of time, and breaking this policy would normally mean termination and that didn't just mean ending their contract.

The baby lay, naked, on a white plastic bed within an incubation room. It had suction cups attached to its large head, chest and stomach that were connected to large machines that were measuring the baby's heart rate, breathing, and brain activity. It had been crying non-stop and only now it had calmed down, eyes red and face streamed with tears, before it finally drifted into silence, and fell asleep.

Three women were in the room, wearing protective suits, as if fearing the child carried deadly bacteria. It had been, naturally, chemically bathed and the clothing it had arrived in carried away to be sterilized and investigated. As usual, these three women did not know each other's name, but had chosen nicknames on their favourite fruit. There was Apple, Grape, and Peach. Apple adjusted her suit, annoyed at how stuffy it got wearing this gear.

"Appearing to the x-rays taken earlier," Peach was saying as she held up black print outs, "The baby has two hearts."

"_Two?_" Apple asked, looking at her own copies.

"For a brain that size it would need extra blood to operate properly, obviously." Grape replied with a snort. "Look at how they beat out of sync, as one gets larger the other gets smaller and vice versa."

"Its chest cavity is so small. No doubt it's to accommodate for room." Peach pointed out as she slipped the x-ray into her folder. "Everything else seems fairly human. Lungs, stomach, digestion tract and that brain... I've never seen anything like it."

"It _is_ amazing." Grape said as she moved closer to the sleeping baby. "Its brain activity is five times that of a baby this size."

"Just how old do we think it is?" Apple asked. Here in the ward, it would never be referred to as 'he'. It was easier to keep distance, to not get attached, so no name would be given nor would clarification of its gender. It was not he, or she. Simply it.

"Judging from how big it is, our estimates put it at roughly ten months old. Already it's shown perfect hand eye coordination, the ability to sit up, and knows to take information in from its surroundings." Peach replied, looking at some notes taken by earlier researchers. It was marked as Top secret and would only see another persons pair of eyes before being stocked away somewhere, never to be seen by other people. "Makes you wonder how long it spent in that pod."

"Estimates is at two weeks, judging by fuel consumption and the wearing on the metal." Grape reported quickly. "One has to wonder how it survived on little to no food."

"Slow metabolism?" queried Apple.

They all continued talking as the baby slept on in the warmth that the incubator offered. The machine that read its brain activity continued to ping now and then when a spike would happen, meaning that the baby was capable of dreams. Just what did it dream of? Shapes? Colors? Faces? Memories? No matter how desperate these scientists were to know these facts, none of them would ever know. The baby squirmed in his bed, flexing his small blue fingers, wanting to feel the familiar, calming feeling of smooth, round glass but found nothing but emptiness.

It was a feeling he was going to have to get used to, and fast for time inside the white walls was hard to tell, for their walls were bare, there were no clocks of any kind. Even the men and women in the facility wore no watches, as if being reminded that it was an ungodly hour outside would distract them from the work they were doing. All the men looked wide and awake, faces clean-shaven and smelling of after-shave. The women's hair was always perfect, and their make up in place. This was a very high-class work place after all, and they were expected to look their best.

Yes, even when watching a fish in a large rectangle fish tank. It had been a few weeks now, and the fish had lashed out at numerous workers by now. It seemed far stronger than they expected, despite its small size, since it was capable of smashing through strong, reinforced glass. Red and Black Tie had started an amusing little game of making notches on a rule for just how many times it drew blood from people who they sent into the room with it.

But that number had dwindled since the higher ups caught wind of this little 'game' and ordered the fish remained drugged to the point of being in a barely conscious state. This meant it barely moved at the best of times, drifting in the water, moving with the small current caused by the filter in the tank. By now a few of its scales were missing, removed by scalpels to see if there was much difference between them and earths fish. It turned out the alien fish scales were far more durable and strong, capable of withstanding heat as well as ice but of course it had its limitations. In the end it resulted in the fish was almost invulnerable to most extremes, even bullets if fired from a certain distance.

"Enough time has passed, Red Tie." Black Tie said finally one day, as they went over the video surveillance of the fish. "It's been deteriorating for days now. Putting it out of its misery would be for the best, and then we can finally do an autopsy on it."

"Agreed." Red Tie replied as he looked at the fish through the window, it was now floating towards the top of the water, listless and half lifeless.

"And, we'll finally get to really see what the metal is made of." Black Tie grinned.

They had, naturally, experimented on it. The metal didn't seem to pick up radio waves, nor did it have the ability to power electrical devices. They had even gone so far as to inflict mild pain on the baby alien to see if the fish could pick this up, and vice versa. Neither tests revealed anything, so there was no telepathic link between the two or linking the fish to anything metallic. It had been somewhat of a let down.

Inside his tank, the small fish hovered. All he could see was white, and after seeing nothing but white for weeks and weeks it became quite blinding. This wasn't where he belonged at all, not in this white, formless world. His ward needed him yet he had no way to get to him. What if he was already dead? Then he would have failed in the mission given to him, his reason for existence would be null and void. The small fish drifted to the bottom of his tank and sat there, simply waiting.

"Now we can't simply take it out of the water," Black Tie said as the two men pulled on matching white gloves. "It can last without water far longer then any aquatic animal I've ever seen so this is going to have to be done the old fashion way."

Red Tie agreed and pulled up a small case, which had a skull and cross bones, printed on its topside for poison. Opening it he took out a needle and a small vials. Removing the needles tip he inserted it into the vials inside and extracted a good dose of the chemical. "It'll be just like going to sleep." he said, as they moved through the connecting door to the white room that kept the tiny fish.

Brown eyes locked on them as soon as they entered, listless as they were, and watched as they approached. Normally people getting so close would end up being bitten by those sharp little teeth but he felt so tired, so exhausted, he just drifted along the bottom of the tank. Suddenly a gloved hand was grasping him and lifting him up out of the water, causing the fish to wriggle in Red Tie's grasp.

"Here we go..."

The pain was short and quick, then he was back in the water. Swimming around slowly, the little fish swam in lazy circles until he was overcome with the urge to sleep. It was striking just how quickly it had come on, while he had felt certainly under the weather a moment ago now it just felt worse. Sleeping normally for the fish was quick, only an hour at a time, for stress levels kept it awake all hours of the day and night though within this room it had long lost the ability to tell when it was day, or night time. The two foggy figures outside his cage dipped into blackness as the little fish drifted to the bottom of his tank.

Sleeping, right now, felt like the best idea in the world. Brown eyes slowly slid shut, darkness enveloped him, and the stress slipped away as did all his pain and worries...

He found peace, and fell into the darkness as the last thoughts were of his ward, and if they'd be together again soon.

To be continued 


	2. Chapter 2

"Six?" asked Apple as the three colleagues sat around a large, oval table which was normally shared by many more people when detailing important information. The office was absolutely empty, giving it an eerie feel especially when the lights were off. All of the lights, now, were off save for one which illuminated the three women sitting at the table.

"Six." replied Peach as she was going through an incredibly thick folder. "Over the course of humanity there have only been five actual government confirmed interactions with alien life. Roswell was the first recently recorded, and after that came four more. Most of the subjects were dead on retrieval, possibly dying because of inability to adapt to the conditions of earth, the air, or through their crash landing which was majority of the time very much a disaster area. Subject four was so broken up it took us weeks to stitch it back together and even now we're unsure as to whether we're right or not."

"But this, this is unheard of." Grape said as she glanced over the photographs laid out on the table in front of them. They were of the blue baby, always in a white, sterile and unfeeling room. He stood out like a sore thumb; skin that vibrant blue and those green eyes of his taking in everything around him. "We've never had a survivor, and it being so young opens a window of possibilities for research. That brain... just think of how its body operates in conjunction with it."

"Are you thinking telepathic abilities?" Apple asked.

"Consider the frontal lobes. They're enormous, and going by our readings this child is only just now beginning to use its brain. Unlike us, it might actually use _all_ of its gray matter. The possibilities, they're literally endless."

Grape lifted one photo, where the child was looking straight at the video camera with a distinct look of annoyance on its face.

Apple didn't like the photo, the child was almost too aware of its surroundings. Did it actually know what was happening to it? That this was... wrong? Impossible, she told herself with a shake of her head. It was just a baby, it had no view of right or wrong yet.

"So its codename is Six. Whenever discussing in open areas, which we shouldn't be doing anyway, we are to refer to it as Six."

"Six." agreed the other two.

Looking down at the photographs they studied how the baby took in its surroundings. It was already adept at sitting up and moving around the confines of the incubation chamber, even smart enough to try and push is hands through the large circles where people would normally handle Six while wearing translucent gloves. Another photograph showed it popping off the sensors attached to its head and actually examining the suction cup before pulling it off and investigating the wires. Surely, those privy to the information, knew that there was intelligent life out there in the universe and they had one.

Education for Six was done easily enough. Once fitted with some white clothing the baby was introduced to his tutor, one of the most gifted intellectuals working for the government. His name, naturally, would go unrecorded but his codename was simply School; for it was what he did best, and what he was going to be doing for the remainder of his time in this facility. The man was all, incredibly thin, and had a pencil lined moustache on his upper lip. The hair was slicked back and graying at its roots, the remaining black putting up a brave fight against the onslaught of age.

Six was, at first, unsure of how to react to this strange tall man suddenly entering his living environment.

"Good day, Six." School greeted, and despite his intimidating presentation his voice was surprisingly warm and welcoming. That alone was vastly different to the indifferent voices Six was used to that he heard through doors, or over speakers.

"Guud dhh." Six seemed to greet back, which alarmed those watching on monitors. Normally Six was silent, unspeaking, not even gurgling or giggling in glee at things plus given his age the idea alone that he could communicate through words was striking.

This shock was obvious on School's face, but he seamlessly eased it into a warm smile. "My name is School, and I'm going to be your teacher of all the things you need to know. First up, we're going to have color identification. Moving on from that we're going to learn the numbers, alphabet and then writing. This course will last the entire year, but we're certain you'll make us all very proud." he went on to explain, to which Six slowly nodded his head, taking all of this in.

Six nodded his head again, and clapped his hands together in an almost eager, looking forward to the chance of education. The flash cards were presented, and after School had given him the name of said color the baby would repeat it in garbled speech which was very quickly improving. This sent more shock waves through the scientists watching on monitors, all cameras focused on the blue skinned baby as its mouth muscles and vocal chords seemed to advance before their very eyes as more words were being introduced to the child.

School had never experienced this before. While he had started his career as a grade school teacher, human children took at least a year to learn basic reading, writing, and correct pronunciation of words. His face began to line with shock, wonder, and apprehension.

"Six, what color is this?" he asked, holding up a card to the child.

"Purple." Six replied clearly, picking at one of his ears with a finger.

"And this?" School went on to another, orange.

"Orange." the baby reported, and continued to get every color right, and even seemed to grasp that when two colors mixed it became something else; something School had not even mentioned before. He suddenly giggled, and touched his own face. "Blue!"

"Yes that's correct, Six. You are blue."

"White." the baby tugged at his clothes, before pointing to School's hair. "Gray!"

"Not entirely."

"Gray." Six giggled in glee.

"If you'll just excuse me Six I need to go and speak to some people. I won't be long, here. I'll leave you these." he set the cards in front of the baby and rushed from the room, leaving Six to pick up the cards and examine them as if he were a college professor going over a thesis.

"He learned in ten minutes what normally takes a normal child at least a months worth of classes!" School said to his superior, a woman known as Rose. She was a board woman, European by birth, but had become an American from a young age so whatever accent she may have had was lost to the ages. She looked at the screen before her of the baby who was now laying the cards out in front of him.

"It's amazing. How quickly he grasps information... move onto numbers next." she said, looking at School. "We'll see how long it takes him to learn basic numeric capabilities."

"Sir, Ma'am! Look!" an intern, who had sutures along his face, said as he pointed to the screen as one of the cameras closed in on Six's activities.

Leaning forward, they could only watch as Six lay out the cards before him in alphabetical order. How he knew this, nobody knew. School hadn't started him on letters, or the alphabet, so how could he know the alphabet already?

"...my god." Rose whispered. "Teach him. Quickly. We need an I.Q test to establish just how intelligent the subject is."

"R-right away." School mumbled before leaving the room quickly, grabbing the charts he would need to teach numbers and letters.

The child was gifted, that much was certain. For it wasn't seven days until the young Six knew all of his colors, the multiplication table, the alphabet, as well as reading and writing. He was always monitored though, especially when given writing instruments. Six simply ate books of a reading average normally suited for high school students. His brain was obviously hungry for knowledge, and acted as a sponge for everything the child heard or saw was stored away for reference at a later date. They established early on he even possessed photographic memory, being able to recite text from a book he had read days previous.

But there wasn't only education that the child was going through. There were the physical tests, such as how sensitive was his skin, taste, sight, smell, hearing; and if he possessed any further abilities yet untapped. Those tests included subjecting the child to all manner of chemicals, trace amounts of drugs, and other stimuli. It wasn't pretty, and Six quickly learned to dread these kinds of tests, and had taken to lashing out at the doctors when they came to retrieve him. Many of them ended up sustaining bite marks and scratches from the baby who was stronger than they had anticipated.

The tests, despite Six's pleas for mercy, went on.

It was soon deducted the child was hypersensitive. His skin, much like a humans, could pick up vibrations from miles away. His hearing was above average, and his taste amazing for he could find trace amounts of food hidden within other foods. This meant they couldn't drug him in his food, which left the only option being to grab him and inject him when they were testing the more biological structure of the child. Six found himself having x-rays almost every day, especially of his brain. The electrical charge of his brain had tripled since his classes with School began, and this fascinated his doctors.

School had long since gotten used to seeing Six start his classes with bandages to parts of his body. Skin scrapings were always taken, as was blood tests. His head as well seemed to have bandages on, though for what reason he did not have clearance to know and he dare not ask the child for every time he entered the little alien's room he was being watched.

It had now been several years, and my how they had flown by in the confines of the room. Six, now appearing around the average child age of eight, lay in his bed reading another one of his books. All of them, naturally, were selected for him and after reading them he was to write out a report on what he thought of the practices listed within the book and how he would improve upon them. Through this tactic, the doctors had already advanced technologically quicker then they had in years. The boy just had a natural grasp of machines, already creating a small basic computer which fit in the palm of his hand.

But the psychologists that Six saw every few weeks were concerned. The child, while no doubts brilliant, was not meshing well with people. Outside of school, Six just had no real friends. Even School couldn't really be seen as a friend, for Six only knew him as an educator. They talked at lengths for hours over things that would normally make no sense to normal seven year olds, but as everyone knew Six was not any ordinary seven year old.

They claimed he needed interaction with children, he needed to socialize. This, naturally, was put down straight away. Six was an alien, a highly advanced race! What good would it give for him to play with other children? They would be of no interest to him, with their laughter, games, and diseases they carried. Plus, Six was an alien. How could you mask that? Imagine a child reacting to a blue child, and how that would affect Six? While that sounded tempting, they knew better. Exposing a normal child to Six would have strong reactions, and they didn't feel like paying off a child's parents to allow them to subject their 'little angel' to an alien and the possible mental scarring that would be the end result.

Sighing to himself, Six shut the book and sat up on his bed and placed it besides him. The book had been on thermo nuclear dynamics and the benefits of atom merging; mediocre by his standards and incredibly boring. Looking around his room, Six took in the bareness of it all. While he was allowed books and paper to write on, it was all piled neatly in its place. A small book case across the room held books that one would find in a library, written by men with long difficult to pronounce names. There were no toys, no board games, no plushy friends for the seven year old to relax with.

Narrowing his eyes, Six put his hands to his head. Today they had already extracted some of his cranial fluid to do testing and the small hole in his head ached terribly, but he was thankful for the bandage covering it. His blood was corrosive, they had discovered from an early age. While it wasn't as acidic as the Alien in a popular movie franchise, it still did damage to flesh and other material if it came in contact. So a new bandage had been made, normally the basis of the material was used on space crafts, to prevent the blood doing damage to anyone or anything.

"Hnn..." he sighed, shutting his eyes now and remembered.

His memory was amazing, that much was well known throughout the facility. If he wanted to, he could still remember the day he first met School and how he had laughed at his gray hair, despite School saying it was black. But lately, Six had been getting a strong inkling that something had been missing, like a part of him that was meant to be here wasn't. It was a feeling he couldn't really explain, or want to, at least in the presence of the doctors. They might think him sick, and take him to the tiled room where the bad things happened.

Shuddering, Six forced his eyes open and walked across the room to grab his paper and pencil, ready to write his report and review on the book but something gave him pause once he sat down. It was that feeling again. So taking a deep breath Six shut his eyes and remembered.

_All around him was chaos, the screams of the people, the crumbling of buildings, it was raining death and destruction. How old was he? At least a week, maybe more. He remembered a woman pulling him from his crib and racing with him through a large building. The noise was deafening, of sirens blaring, and the madness and pandemonium happening around him. Yet the woman holding him was oddly calm as she ran, she wasn't screaming._

_Was this his mother? She had eyes like him, green, large serene. Then she handed him to a man, blue skinned like him and wearing white just like the woman. They were rushing him somewhere, somewhere important. Suddenly he was in an enclosed space full of soft material, and buttons and screens. _

_"Here is your Minion." his mother explained, and handed him something. It was a ball, but it held something inside. A fish? A brown eyed fish. It smiles at him, and there's a spark there that Six hadn't thought about until today. "He will take care of you." his mother goes on to say, to which the little fish turns in the orb to stare out at the world they were leaving._

_"And here is your binky." his father adds, and pressed the teething apparatus into the baby's mouth. "You are destined for-" his last words are cut off by a hatch shutting, and the two faded into white._

"Minion." Six said to himself, and began to draw upon the paper where he was supposed to be writing. The image of a little fish quickly filled the page, large kind eyes, tiny fins and little dangly bits under its body. Glowing tiny orbs atop the head travelled along the length of the body to a tiny tail. Holding the picture privately close, positioned so the cameras in the room couldn't see, Six stared at the drawing.

This was his friend. This was who was missing. Who had always been missing. But where was he? Could he ask? Should he ask? If he wasn't here with him now, then where? Touching the drawing with his fingers, Six felt his eyes grow hot and stingy. How could he possibly forget his fish? His mother had said he would look after him... but nobody looked after him here. All the faces he saw were different from when he first got here, they were all cold, and mean with the needles and the probing and the scanning…

"Oh Minion." Six whispered and felt like he could cry, when something cold and steely suddenly lifted in his mind. These people were all about research. Minion had been a tiny fish, what would they have done to him? Monitor him, like they were to him. But had they kept him alive? Would they have a reason to? Had they killed his fish? That idea alone exploded a multitude of emotions in Six he normally didn't feel, and it was dizzying. His head felt light, and painful, as if he was being injected into his head by multiple needles.

The door to his room, feeling suddenly like a cell, and in walked the doctor who brought him his meals. The tray was white and plastic, the plate attached to the tray, and it had the usual stuff. Vegetables, some fruit in a bowl, cooked meat and a plastic glass of water.

"Dinner, Six." he said as he set the tray down on the table in front of Six. This man, to Six, was known simply as Ace.

"What happened to Minion?" Six asked straight away.

The man stood, raising an eyebrow. "Minion? Who is that?"

"Minion." Six repeated. "I arrived with a fish. _Where is he_?"

"A fish." Ace paused in thought, "I'm sorry Six. I don't know what you're talking about."

"_Find out_." Six ordered, tiny fists clenched and on his table. He grabbed the drawing, ripped it off the stationary paper and held it up to the man. "He looked like this, and it's to scale. He arrived in the pod with me. I want to see him."

Taking the drawing Ace looked at the fish before looking back to Six. Never before had Six been so... demanding. Normally he was quite content in his existence, except when it was time for medical examinations then they all had to be careful with him in what they said, and approached him. "All right... I'll see." he said, and left the room.

Out in the halls he made his way down the fairly empty corridors. Lights illuminated his way, and there were portraits hanging on the walls of past officers and presidents. Naturally there were fire alarms and the like, but there had never been a fire in this organization in all its years of operation. He approached another long hallway and made a left, walking for another minute before pushing the door open.

Two men, one wearing a red tie, the other a black one, were sitting behind desks opposite each other. Black Tie was reading, while Red Tie was drinking a cup of coffee. Both of them glanced up at the same time as the new arrival entered the room.

"He wants to know." Ace said, and held up the drawing of the fish.

Red Tie's eyes gleamed, as Black Tie smiled almost pleasantly. "Does he now?"

"He called him Minion, and wants to see him."

Black and Red Tie looked to each other, and Black clicked his tongue as Red Tie got to his feet and walked Ace. "Hrm, well that might be difficult. After its termination the fish was pretty much taken apart. The technology of that antenna was beyond our wildest dreams, researching that alone have advanced our own technology ten fold. The rest of the fish though, not as fascinating..." he walked through to another room which was full of specimen jars. Inside every one was some part of an animal, or a whole animal, along with the name (both normal and scientific) posted on its front so you knew just what you were looking at, or what part of that something you were looking at was. It was quite disgusting.

"Yes I'm well aware of that. Satellite has advanced thanks to many things discovered here." Ace rolled his eyes. He hated how some departments felt that they were more beneficial to the world then another. These guys certainly gave off that feel.

Red Tie frowned at him, before opening a cupboard. He pulled something out and set it on an operating table inside the compact room. It was the fish. Though it had been stuffed, and left in protective fluid inside the very same ball it had arrived on earth in. It had fake eyes, naturally, but it was the fish that Six had drawn. Ace made a face of disgust.

"Ugly little thing isn't he?" he asked.

"But the brain was amazing. That antennae had little nerve roots going to absolutely every part of its brain! It was amazing. Nanotechnology unlike any we had seen before." Red Tie gushed.

"So... what do I tell him?" Ace asked.

"The truth." Black Tie said, having followed the two into the room. "There is no point in lying to him. The fish is dead."

"So I should tell this seven year old kid that you killed his fish, and cut him open?"

"Not so technical." Black Tie said gently, waving his hands in a calming manner. "Say the fish passed away early on after arriving. The details as to why do not need to be disclosed to the child."

"...jeeze this is like telling a kid there isn't a Santa Claus." Ace said, looking down at the fish.

"Well there isn't. What is the point in lying to children? Prepare them for reality. That's the best means." Red Tie replied before grabbing the orb and actually handing it to Ace. "Here, give it to him."

"What?" Ace asked, eyes widening.

"Ohh I like that idea!" Red Tie said, eyes lightning up. "We'll get to research and gauge his reaction to learning about morality and the death of his fish! Then, we take him back off of him!"

"Genius Red Tie, genius!" Black tie grinned and like a pair of excited children they ran off to get their papers and pens, leaving Ace holding the orb and feeling like he was holding a ticking time bomb. Just how were these men above him in this company? They were like sadistic school boys, torturing bugs just for fun.

He looked down at the poor little fish, and he hoped it hadn't suffered in its death. Why would they have killed an alien life form? Just because the fish was an aquatic being, something that Earth had more then enough of, and thus held no true intelligence or scientific value? He wouldn't understand, because it wasn't his job to do so. Sighing, Ace followed behind Red and Black Tie as they returned to Six's holding room. Naturally the two men went to the monitoring room, set to make notes and record what was about to take place.

Six was writing, trying to put his mind off of the ghastly subject, when the door to his room opened. Lifting his gaze Six saw that round orb and his face broke into a large smile which lasted for zero point two seconds before he realized something very disturbing. Ace watched the expression of the child and felt a knife in his heart twist in deeper with every passing second.

"...he died, shortly after arriving." he explained as he walked forward, unsure if he should offer the orb to the child or not. "I'm sorry, Six."

Was it possible to mourn someone you never knew? Six had only been with the fish for such a short period of time, would it really affect him? Ace wondered all these things, all the while that dagger in his heart dug further in. Six, who still sat in his seat, stared at the fish with wide eyes. He was suddenly up, and Ace realized just how quick on his feet the skinny child could be for the fish ball was in his hands one second and out of it the next.

Six held the orb to his chest and rushed to the sanctuary of his bed, and curled around the ball as if there was a magnet within it, drawing him in. He said nothing, and merely clutched at the glass.

"Six, you can't keep him." Ace said quietly, trying to keep his voice from shaking.

"No." Six said, holding the orb closer. "He's mine. He's my friend."

"He's a specimen, now Six. He can't stay with you." he moved closer to the boy, who moved further up the bed, eyes now locked on the man.

"_NO!_" Six shrieked, the small fish in the orb bouncing against the walls due to the movement. "YOU CAN'T! YOU TOOK HIM ONCE ALREADY!"

"Six I mean it! Do you want me to call the doctors in? Do you want the needles?" he hated threatening the child, who genuinely looked so heart broken and in pain at the idea of loosing his friend as soon as he got him back. "Because I'll have to. Now hand him over."

"No." Six echoed, voice dropping to a dangerous tone which startled Ace.

He ended up trying to pull the orb out of the child's hand, but to his shock Six lashed out and bit the back of his palm hard. His small white teeth dug into his flesh and blood began to pour out of his hand. Ace staggered back, shocked the child would act so violently towards him; but the look on Six's face wasn't that of apology, or sadness at having done what he did. No, he looked almost victorious.

But then he screamed, for more men rushed into the room, one with a needle all ready. Six fought against them, kicking his legs and waving his fists, but while he was trying to wriggle free the orb with Minion inside tumbled out of his grasp and rolled across the floor. Ace, shaking in shock, grabbed the orb in his good hand and left the room quickly. He hated this job. He hated how Six's screams would echo down all of the long, empty hallways. You could never escape the shrieks of the child, even once they had died into silence.

Inside the room, Six now lay flat on his chest, eyes wide and staring at the walls. The injection had done its job, calming him, easing his hearts, and he was now languid and easier to deal with.

"Maybe if you behave yourself you'll see the fish again." said one of the doctors, breaking the needle so it wouldn't hurt anyone else. "Once you can, get back to your homework."

Six found himself alone, head swimming, and heart aching, in his room once more. He breathed easily, despite the aches in his head and heart, and shut his eyes.

"Look at him, it's perfect." Red Tie said as he watched the large monitor up on the wall. "Is he crying? He's never cried."

"Negative." Black Tie replied, zooming the image with a button. "No tears."

"Damnit." Red Tie swore, rubbing at his nose. "What's he doing?"

"Whispering?" they adjusted the volumes, but found themselves incapable of over hearing what the child was saying. Was he simply mouthing the words? That was a possibility.

Despite the drugs in his system, Six's mind was a strong one, and even now it was racing at the speed of light. Ace had said that Minion had died naturally. Now, he highly doubted that. Minion had been healthy, young, his life ahead of him to spend it besides Six's side. He wouldn't have died. He was murdered. They had killed his friend. His only friend, before they had even been given a chance to be friends.

"Oh Minion... You've been locked away..." he mouthed the words against the bed sheets, "All these years, just like me... just like me... Why'd they do this to you...? What did you do... You were meant to stay with me..."

"I did, sir."

His green eyes opened, and he stared vacantly ahead. Inside the monitor room, Red and Black tie watched as the child seemed to focus on one spot in particular.

"What is he doing?" Red Tie asked, zooming in on the image again before attempting to fix the volume again. Yet still, there was no sound for them to hear besides the breathing of the alien child.

"I don't know. But it's fascinating." Black Tie replied, still making notes.

There, floating in the air before Six, was Minion. The little fish was transparent, see through, and gave off an eerie green glow which cast beautiful shapes and colors over the normally dismally bland white room. Six stared, transfixed, but he was not afraid, or confused as to how or why this was happening.

"I'm sorry I failed you, Sir." the little fish said sadly, floating closer to the alien. "But I'm here now. I'll never leave you alone again."

"You're dead..." Six said finally.

"I am Sir, but that doesn't mean I still can't stay with you." Minion replied, and smiled at him warmly, sweetly. A smile that Six had never truly experienced before. It made his hearts race, despite the medication. "I'll always be with you." the little fish replied, "Sleep now, sir. I'll keep watch."

Six continued to stare at the small fish, before his eyes finally began to slip shut both out of emotional exhaustion but the medication mixing in his blood stream. This felt... safe, nice, warm. He had never really felt any of these things before within these white walls, where all the tests and people came in to see him. The only times he had ventured out was when going to the tiled place, where he was always hurt. It had been his home, this room, his bed, his books and nothing else. But he had never realized how alone he had felt, now that he had seen Minion.

His friend was back now. And nothing was going to tear them apart again; both he and Minion would make sure of this.

"That's it for now." Black Tie said as he sat back in his seat, picking up his cup of coffee and took a slow sip. "Just like any child, I'm kind of disappointed."

"You and me both. I thought he'd handle it like an adult, not go crying about it." Red Tie snorted, as he made the final appraisal in his notes.

"I guess a kid is always a kid, no matter how high its I.Q is." Black Tie grumbled.

Red Tie was about to reply when, suddenly, two of the monitors suddenly flickered and short circuited. Both men stood up in surprise as a plumes of smoke began to lift into the air. They could smell the burning plastic ripe and invading their sense of smell.

"What the fuck!" swore Black Tie.

"Whoa. How old are these things?" Red Tie asked as he checked behind one of the monitors, to see the connector port all but melted in their place.

"I dunno, I thought we just had everything updated due to the sales of our technology." Black Tie just found the whole thing annoying. Technology was supposed to be improving, not blowing up like this!

"Well anyway. Lunch?" Red Tie grinned.

"Read my mind." Black Tie replied, and the two men left the monitoring room behind, making sure to lodge a complaint about the manufacturer of the screens which had died on them. Hopefully the warranty was still valid.


	3. Chapter 3

Red and Black tie sat in uncomfortable silence as they reviewed the video footage taken that day of the young Six. Over the past few weeks the boy had experienced a drastic personality change. While before he had been quite a cooperative child, willing to do as he was told and more than happy to read the books given, or watch the films on a projected image on a wall, now a days he didn't seem... well. Interested in anything. He had now taken to the habit of laughing at inappropriate moments, as if he had heard a joke. Naturally, this was impossible given the fact he was alone for most of the time.

"I just can't understand it." Red Tie said as he ran a thumb over his bottom lip before giving his nail a little bit of a nibble, a habit he did out of nerves. "Do you think the introduction of the fish caused all this?"

"I don't see how learning a fish you knew for a mere few days as a child would result in these kinds of behavioural pattern changes." Black Tie replied, picking up his mug of coffee and taking a sip. "Just look, look at the little shit here."

On the screen, the blue skinned child was reading a book while sitting on his bed. The book was about unsolved mathematical problems; a subject he was more then adapt at tackling. Half way through reading he suddenly laughed; shutting his eyes as he giggled in glee at something only he could truly understand.

"What's so funny about the Sierpinski or Riesel numbers?" Black asked.

"Don't ask me, I'm not a mathematician, I'm a scientist." Red Tie replied with an annoyed tinge to his voice. "I know enough maths to see me through the day."

Not only were they concerned about the alien childs' unusual behaviour, things had been happening around the room. Despite replacing the burnt out monitors, it seemed as though as soon as they replaced one another three blew out. And just last week four of the eight cameras in Six's room stopped working at the same time. At first it was believed to be an over-heating problem, but if that was the case why hadn't this kind of thing happened before? Six had been constantly monitored since his arrival in the underground facility, so why would cameras choose now to break?

The lights had also become a problem. Globes would literally explode, once again happening in the monitoring rooms. Key card readers would refuse to work, locking men and women out of rooms and hallways and even Six's room in one occasion.

"Is it the boy doing it?" Apple finally asked one day whilst at the oval table sitting in relative darkness with the other two women.

"He doesn't appear to be causing it," Grape said as she read over a report. "For one if it was him, it's estimated that he would need to be concentrating or at least looking at what he was doing. Here, he's either sleeping, reading, or eating when these phenomena take place. Here, it's as if he's a bystander."

"What do the read outs say on his cerebrospinal fluids say?" Peach asked, reaching for a report.

"While there have been slight changes to the structure that's mostly due to his aging. He's still growing, after all. Once he reaches maturity we'll be able to really read into his brains activity and deduct a complete report and see if there are truly strong changes. As of this point though, we can't really rely on these things." Apple replied, which made the mother inside of her glower with disgust. So they had been inserting needles to extract CSF from a childs brain for no good reason? Six _always_ cried during the procedures, despite the doctors repeated attempts at calming him, or informing him that he actually couldn't feel anything.

Once again that was just guessing, though. Their research had revealed just how touch sensitive his skin was, what's not to say he could feel internal pain just as, if not more so, powerfully then outwards? That was another theory, one of thousands that orbited the boy from morning till nightfall. When he hit puberty, how would that change his body? Would he grow hair in places he did not have hair now, or would he remain smooth and sleek, the only hair appearing on his body being that on his face? The idea of him being suddenly capable of growing underarm hair, pubic hair, or even hair on his chin was alarming. If he did, that meant he had testosterone; where in his body was that held? Naturally in his brain, but where else would it be possible for he had no scrotum to speak of.

Maybe that too would grow in once he reached maturity, but who could say when that was? He had mentally developed faster then any of them could ever dream possible, so what did that say of his body? Would it evolve slower, or just as quick? Naturally the boy's height was measured every month, along with his weight, to see if there were any changes. So far, no such thing. But the doctors in their white lab coats hoped that once he reached puberty, whenever that would be, they would see some electrifying changes.

But what had been happening lately, at least personality wise and the technical glitches around the facility, already were raising a few eyebrows. One of the psychiatrists, named Lens, was already insisting on having another session with Six despite him not being booked for one for at least another month.

Her excuse was basically due to the idiotic actions of Red Tie and Black Tie, exposing the child to the other dead alien, that Six needed it. This won over the 'boss' who gave clearance.

"Sir, somebody's coming down the hall. It's that Lens woman." Minion said as he hovered half in the door, half out of it.

Six, back to the door and writing another report, stopped and lifted his head. That can't be right; he wasn't supposed to see Lens for at least another few weeks. While he had no calendars, or representation of time within these walls, Six always had a good grasp of time, at least with days and months. Hours, he knew little to nothing about. But he knew the woman who wore glasses, Lens, only showed up to speak to him every few months. This was earlier.

He said nothing to Minion but gave a nod of his head; he was well aware of being watched and he didn't want people probing and poking at him for speaking to 'himself'. Minion seemed to understand that, sometimes, his fish even seemed capable of reading his mind at times. This didn't scare Six despite a small quiet part of his mind asking questions as to how, or why, this was happening. It was a very small part, and was easily suffocated to silence by the warmth and friendship he felt when the fish was in the room with him. Which was all the time.

The door to his room opened and in walked the woman in a grey business suit with matching skirt, her hair done in a short bob around her fairly thin face. Her glasses made her eyes seem twice their size, a trait, which had always disturbed Six, a little bit. "Six." her accent was English, upper class. It made him feel the need to sit up straighter in her presence normally but not today.

Six turned his gaze from his book to the woman who was carrying a chair for her to sit on. His chair was naturally far too small for anyone but himself to make themselves comfortable on. No doubt a woman of her stature would look stupid sitting on a childs chair. "Hello Lens." he said, shutting the book as he got off the bed. Minion was floating by her head, examining her like a person would a strange animal.

"Lens isn't her name at all, Sir." Minion scoffed, before swimming around her head and returning to Six's side. "They lie so much in here, it's not right at all. Who do they think they are?"

"How are you?" Lens asked as she set down her chair and sat down on it, waiting for Six to make his way to his own chair by his table. The young alien made no effort to move.

"Fine." Six replied, lifting a hand to scratch at his earlobe.

"Now we know that's not true, Six." she replied, watching as the boy stood in his spot, not moving. "Don't you want to sit down?" Lens asked.

"Not really, no." the little boy sniffed before looking down at the book in his hands. "I just want to read today."

"Yeah so leave him alone!" Minion piped up, glaring at the woman.

"Well, you can read later. Look I want to talk to you about what happened with Ace. You know you hurt him pretty bad, right? Why did you do that?" she asked, getting out the usual note pad she made her notes on. Six hated that note pad. She wrote in it no matter what he said, or did, even when he did nothing.

"He tried to take Minion from me." Six said quietly. "I didn't want Minion to go away again."

"And Minion is...?" Lens asked, pen already writing across the lined paper.

"My fish. My parents gave me Minion to take care of me and when I came here they took him away from me, and when I asked where he was Ace brought me Minion but he, he was dead and not alive. I didn't want to say good-bye again but Ace was trying to take him away from me so I _bit_ him so he would hurt like I was hurting. I'm _glad_ he bled."

Lens was notorious at wearing a 'poker face' at times like this, so despite the alarm bells in her mind going off that the child was actually happy he made Ace bleed was like having a fire alarm go off right next to your sleeping head. This alarmed her, greatly. Six had never exhibited violent tendencies before. Had the reveal of his dead fish companion brought all of this on? She made a note on he paper to ask Black Tie and Red Tie just what the Hell they were thinking to do this to a young child.

The session continued for a little while longer, the woman asking him questions about how he's feeling, how he should feel bad for hurting Ace the way he did, and that it was nobody's fault that Minion had died when he did. Death, after all, was a part of life. Six was told he should learn to accept that, Minion was gone and he had to just learn that now, because death will no doubt play a role in his life later on.

All the while Minion rolled his eyes and muttered about English women having no real intelligence. This almost made Six laugh a few times, but luckily he held his laughter in. When the woman finally left, Minion snorted and hovered at the door way and even vanished half way through it.

"Your name isn't even Lens, it's Estella!" he called out before floating back towards Six, who was now sitting at this table.

"How do you know that?" asked Six, mentally of course since speaking in words to Minion would no doubt bring more people like Lens into his space and he was beginning to dislike having people 'pop in' on him with no previous warning.

"Because that's her name." Minion replied in a matter of fact way before floating over to the table and settled on top of it.

Six watched his friend for a moment then smiled, and went back to his writing. While he knew the people were watching him through all those 'hidden' cameras in his room, he also knew how important it was to keep hush hush over what was happening inside this little room. The way Minion kept guard at the door when Six slept made him feel much more calmer then he had in years. And when the doctors came with their needles and their promises of 'this won't hurt a bit' Minion was there, whispering and scaring away the fear; reminding him that it would be all over soon and these doctors would be far away from him again.

But it all still hurt, naturally.

"Minion, I have a question." Six turned the page on his book and lined up a new page in order to continue his report on the book he had been reading before being so rudely interrupted.

"Fire away, sir." Minion replied chirpily.

"What is outside?" he asked.

The little fish's fins moved slowly, and those golden brown eyes blinked. Turning himself around the fish stared up at the ceiling. "Well Sir, just outside your door is the hallway. Down the hallway in either directions are lots and lots of rooms. At the end of the corridors, there are elevators which go straight up. Beyond there, I don't know sir." he explained before turning back to his master. "I could go and find out, if you want me to!"

Six shook his head. While he was naturally curious about what lay beyond the world he knew, he didn't want Minion experiencing it alone. He wanted to go with him, to step outside the white walls and into the wide, blue world. How large was it? What did the sun feel like? What did grass feel like, beneath bared feet? How large could the clouds get? Would there be birds flying overhead? Just where on Earth were they, anyway? While he knew every country on the globe, he didn't know where he himself was. Now, he knew he had landed in Metro City which was in America, but who was to say he hadn't been shipped around when he was a baby? Was he in Europe? Asia? Australia? Somewhere so remote nobody would ever find him if he ran away?

...That last thought almost sent thrills up his spine. Running away... getting away from the lessons, the tests, the doctors, the needles, the pain and the white walls and just... being his own boss for once. It was thrilling, and exciting, the possible danger he may encounter out there. He could get some money or he could take some! It seemed easy enough. He would get a car, and drive. Drive, and drive, and drive! It seemed easy enough in the novels he read which had little to nothing to do on science or mathematics or physics. Those books were far and few between though, since no doubt those doctors in charge didn't want him getting too curious about the outside world. Little did they know by their presence alone, whenever a human being walked into Six's room, made him curious about the outside world.

So he read the books on the environment, about evolution, about how man had descended from primates and all sorts of interesting things. This made him wonder, what kind of environment was it like up there now? He had seen so little of Metro City as a baby he had no memory of it. Were there still trees everywhere? Forests? Deserts? Or was it all white, cold, and unfeeling like his room? He hoped it wasn't. Six dreamed of colors beyond his door. Bright, murky, dark, cold, light colors. All colors of the rainbow and even more then that, all of them for him to experience for himself and Minion.

It seemed as though Six and Minion were well versed in the act of not being discovered, their friendship secret and almost forbidden amongst the cold room that was Six's only home. While Six would think to his little friend, Minion was always talkative and friendly, no matter what the situation. The little fish even entertained him by making lights tun off by flipping the switches, or breaking the sneakily hidden cameras to give them a break from being watched. Naturally these incidents resulted in repairmen coming in to fix the problem not too long after they had happened, and Six ended up watching them work from the safety of his bed. How daring it would be to run at the door and slip past them when the door was being opened...! But he knew he wouldn't get far. The men in white coats who had no name would be upon him in seconds, drugging him, and dragging him back to his room to 'think about what he'd done'. No, he didn't need that headache at all.

But as time passed, he learned just how good Minion was at affecting things around him. In those spare moments they had whenever they would break the cameras and bugs, Minion would amaze his friend by moving physical objects despite he himself seeming invisible to everyone around him. He would grip a book in his teeth and bring it to Six. This was all done in secrecy, and when the men came to fix the cameras there would be Six sitting on his bed reading his books and acting ever so innocent.

Such electrical problems did not go unnoticed, though. The men in charge were beginning to suspect there was more to this then just power burnouts. What if the child was doing this? What if, for example, Six was developing powers that they had scrutinized about back when he was a baby? It would explain the cameras breaking... he was harnessing his powers. And if he could do things electrically, if it was he, what was stopping him from doing something more physical? Six could ultimately become a danger to everyone around him, if his scope and reach with his powers was too large. And that brain of his had certainly aged with him, now at only fifteen years old his head was twice the size of a normal adult brain.

And oh, how he had changed. The complacent, helpful little boy had vanished over the years, especially as his body had matured around him. His testosterone levels had grown, he now had the beginnings of a tiny beard beneath his bottom lip, yet no hair anywhere else. Of course when he had begun to truly change there had been experiments and blood taking, scans and reports, practically every day. Yet still they couldn't ascertain just how his species had reproduced. Between his legs was nothing, it was smooth, hairless. The name 'Ken' was thrown around a lot by the doctors in jest, yet they still scratched their heads. Would his sexual appetite explode one day? What if he was with Lens at the time? Would he push himself on her?

All these worries kept many of the doctors on pins and needles when they watched the teenager every time on their monitors.

"What if..." spoke up one of the doctors, "What if we just sedate him and investigate ourselves? Just work out what's going on in there."

"What, you mean cut him open and see where his parts are?" asked another.

"Pretty much." replied the man with the plan, whose name was Knives. "Cut all this bull shit of waiting and hoping he get a boner for something, because as far as I can tell despite giving him magazines of women he shows little to no interest."

"And men." pointed out his co-worker, and they all grunted and nodded. Despite the 'stimuli' material they had issued the alien, he showed no interest in men or women.

"I still say it's because they aren't his species. Look at him, and then look at us. He has no nipples, no pubic hair, blue skin... he's as different as possible yet still somehow appearing similar. Now, would you get tuned on by images of him appearing sexy?" asked Scissors.

"Ugh. No." Knives shuddered.

"My point exactly. No, no no..." Scissors rubbed his forehead in thought. "He wouldn't be aroused by any of it... I hate to say it Knives but I almost think your idea is a good one."

"Gee, so sorry to hear that." Knives rolled his eyes before leaning forward, putting his hand on the desk. "This will give us a clear, definite understanding of his species reproductive methods. He could be like any number creatures on this Earth, or he could be so totally different we've never even contemplating it before."

Scissors removed his glasses and rubbed at his forehead, feeling a headache coming along. He knew the importance of studying this alien, how great it was to know absolutely everything about him and what his kind was capable of. Was this pushing it, though? Cutting him open to try and find a ball sack that might not even exist? And just how would their tools work against his corrosive blood? It seemed like too big a risk but...

"We'll have to clear it with the guys in charge of course. You know they don't want anything bad happening to Six." he pointed out.

"Of course, naturally. I'll work on the pitch right now." Knives said as he gathered up the paperwork he had set before the older man. Scissors watched as the younger man left the room, and reached down into his desk drawers to get a drink. He certainly felt like he needed it.

Meanwhile, down in Six's room, Minions golden brown eyes snapped open. He had been just resting a moment while Six toyed with a rubik's cube absently at the foot of his bed.

"Something bad's going to happen." Minion whispered. "Something really bad."

Six lifted his head, and looked at his companion.

"What?" he asked mentally, hands still flicking and twisting the cube in his hands.

"Operations. They're going to cut you open, Sir. You're becoming an adult, and they want to know _everything_." the fish added, eyes wide in disgust and fear. "Oh it's horrible sir, simply horrible...!"

The blue teenager narrowed his green eyes, and looked back down at the cube in his hands. So it had come to this, had it? They had grown tired of the resource of his amazing intellect and were now going to go for his physical body? Why was it so important to know what he had happening internally? It wasn't a threat to them at all. It was his mind that was a threat to them, no doubt about that. All those chemicals they had introduced to his system, testosterone to help him 'bulk up' had done nothing but awaken more of his mind to what he was capable of. What he had once only dreamed of.

Six calmly set the cube down, and got up off the bed. He walked over to his bookshelf and knelt in front of it, and pulled out a book at random to appear busy, to appear that his mind wasn't working over time.

It was the moment he and Minion had been waiting for. The day all the dreaming, planning, and scheming would come to fruition. They thought they could just run his life forever? To keep probing, poking, until he was little more then a pin cushion? Well they were wrong. All of them were wrong. This was it, this was finally it.

They thought they were so safe in those white coats, their needles, and their fake names. What would they do if they knew what he knew? Six knew all of their names, and their addresses, and just how many children they had and what age they were. This information would lead to all of them, outside in the real world. And just how did he come across this information? Why, his faithful companion Minion. His fish knew everything there was to know about the people inside the facility. He knew their names, and would whisper them to his boss, who had a memory like a safe. Any and everything that entered it, stayed there, and was easy to locate. And these names... these names would serve their purpose.

Opening the book he came to a stop on a black hole, an artists interpretation of what it would look like sucking a planet into it. Memories of his parents flashed in his mind, their hope that their child would reach a nice, safe planet to grow and be loved on. Little they had known that their son had ended up in Hell on Earth. Where any bodily fluids were extracted and tested. Where his IQ was challenged every week in tests he cared little for. That his physical body pushed to its limits against chemicals that would normally burn and scar a normal human beings. They had even began to come to him, posing as 'imagination studies' to think up weaponry. Did they think he was an idiot? Did they honestly think he would let them steal his ideas to win wars?

The weaponry he had in mind was only going to benefit two people, himself and Minion.

"We're getting out." Six finally spoke, his voice no longer the high, cute squeak of a prepubescent child. It was deeper, and spoke of yearning and a lust of respect and freedom.

"We are, Sir?" Minion asked, eyes wide with wonder and fear.

Six nodded his head once, before going back to his bed and looking at the book without really reading it. He would allow them to enter the room, he wouldn't put up a fight at first... things would appear normal. But the second that needle would come out, it would never meet his blue skin.

Not this time.

Never again.


	4. Chapter 4

The air was electrified today, when Six lay in his bed and listening to the silence around him he knew that something was coming. Something big, and important. It felt as if his entire life had been building up to this moment, this day, what was about to unfold. Minion was hanging by the door, keeping guard, and silent despite the fact nobody else alive could hear him. Six lay in his bed a moment longer before he finally got up, and rubbed his eyes sleepily, freeing them of sand. It was an important day for him, and he wanted to look his best.

He walked across the darkness of his white room, the lights killed for eight hours to allow him to sleep properly, and found the bathroom corner of his room. This was where he washed, and used the facilities. Going through the morning routine was easy, brushing his teeth, flossing, washing his face and then using the toilet. Once that was all done he moved back to his bed and waited for the lights to come on. Already his head was aching, a dull, throbbing ache which seemed to echo all throughout his being. His stomach felt like it was full of knots, his lungs hot and his hearts were beating quickly out of sync as always. This was normally how he felt when he knew the doctors were going to come but this time it felt ten times as painful, as nervous.

"Sir they're coming." Minion reported, flying back to his boss and hovered in front of him.

Six took a deep breath. "Two of them." he said to himself, just how he knew this truth was from a long line of doctor visits. One always carried the needle with the drugs, the other to grab and pin him down against the bed if he was to put up a fight. There was never more than two, unless it was a critical emergency... like when he was biting somebody, or scratching at their eyes with his nails.

He raised his head and he watched as the door to his room opened. The aliens bright green eyes lingered on the two men, both of who looked at him with some apprehension.

"You must be new." Six spoke softly, since he didn't recognize their faces at all. "What do you want?"

"You need to undergo an integral operation." reported the one with the needle, "Our reports tell us you have a habit of making these things difficult."

Minion growled at the two men, golden brown eyes narrowed dangerously. The two of them felt a kind of chill, as if a warning, but it was easily ignored. The air conditioning in these places were always acting up now and then, just like the power. "This time, could we do things easier?"

"But of course." Six replied and lifted his arm.

In the monitoring room, a single man sat there. His name was Scars, simply because that dang fish had left a very gnarly looking scar running along his nose, cheek, and over his right eye. It wasn't a name he particularly liked but when you were given one, you just grinned and put up with it no matter how insulting it was. He watched as one of the doctors approached Six, and just as he reached to grab his wrist all of the monitors suddenly powered off. It wasn't instantaneous, they wobbled and flickered, sending sharp contrasting shadows over his scarred face as the image on them distorted. Was that Six, grabbing the doctor's arm? But next thing he knew the screens were dead, smoke billowing out of the backs and raising upwards. They triggered the fire alarm, which send a shrill scream all throughout the underground facility.

Scars swore and was just moving from the room when he heard the audio feed, still operating.

"No wait no-!" then a horrible scream.

The door to Six's room was shut from the outside, and one could hear a thump of a body hitting a bed inside. This was normal, Six always tended to faint onto his bed when drugged. But when the door slowly opened as all the sprinklers in the facility turned on and showered the halls with water, Six was the one to step outside and casually adjusted his white shirt.

"We have to go, Sir!" Minion cried as he flew out past his master quickly as he could as the door behind him shut.

"Take me to your body first." Six said aloud, looking from left to right. It was just like Minion had said, empty halls with portraits and things hanging off the walls.

"What?" the little fish blinked in confusion.

"YOUR BODY, MINION." the alien screamed, voice tense and on edge. "Take me NOW!"

The alarms were still screaming as Six ran down the hallway towards where Minion's body was held. As he rounded a corner he saw two men just coming out of a room. They wore black pants, shiny black shoes, with white coats. One man wore a red tie which was crooked, his hair was deep brown. The other man had a black tie, and hair the color of hay. Both of their eyes widened in equal alarm at seeing Six out of his room, and unassisted.

"It's them sir!" Minion gaped, "They're the ones, them, there!"

"You." Six whispered, hand grabbing at one of the frames hanging on the wall. With alarming speed he pulled it down and threw it to the ground, ignoring the shattering of glass and pine as it splintered on the ground.

"Oh shit, shit, get your-" Red Tie started but was cut off when a large shard of glass cut him short. It impaled itself in his chest and he fell like a bag of bricks, blood spurting out of the wound and stained the white walls and his own jacket. Black Tie, frozen in place, could only watch as Six approached him and grabbed his throat. It was just as the reports read, Six truly was stronger than they should give him credit for. While the aliens whole frame was relatively thin and scrawny looking, there was true strength there.

"You killed Minion." Six whispered quietly, oddly calm. "He didn't die. Not naturally like that man told me. You lied to me. _Lied_. To _me_." he slammed Black Tie against the wall, and the man saw stars through the blurry vision of blue which took up all of his vision. "Give me your keycard." Six ordered through his gritted teeth. "Give it to me."

Black Tie groaned, his eyes slipping shut but they jarred open again when the blue alien slammed him into the wall again. "I c-can't..." he groaned.

Blue stared at him, before tugging at the white lab coat and found the card hanging on a clip attached to his belt. He had seen many of these in his years, they were always calling to him. Keycards. To unlock any and all doors in this place, operate the lifts... to get _outside_. He grabbed the card and yanked it away before throwing Black Tie to the ground, "Save yourself some trouble and just stay down. I won't be too long." Six hissed before hurrying into the room they had been leaving, ignoring how he was trailing blood in his foot steps.

He easily found the specimen room and he had to pause a second at just how disturbing the place was. Six stared at the jars and test tubes that held dead animals. There was a jar that held an entire eel, somehow, it being wrapped around and around itself.

"In here Sir, in here." Minion flew into another doorway. Six followed, and pushed the doors open and froze in horror. All around him, through the falling water, was large glass containers. Within these containers, some taller than he was, were the remains of aliens. Above each chamber was a plaque reading their name, date of arrival, and date of death. Every single creature being held in the fluid had obvious scars across their chests, or anything big enough to perform autopsies. The stitching done to seal them was horrible and black, standing out against the decaying flesh.

"One..." the creature looked like a small child with an oversized head, similar to his own. Only its eyes were completely black, the skin pale green and is fingers were long and spindly. His eyes looked at the plaque, and it showed it as dead on the same day it arrived. "Died on arrival." he whispered.

"Two..." this one looked more like a spider, a large chest area and a thorax. The legs, four of them, were longer than he was tall. Its head was small, pincers as large as a football each with multiple dead eyes. This one was more or less in one piece, but its skin was burned in some places. Once again, dead on arrival.

"Three..." another one that looked like the first, though more or less in a whole piece.

"Four..." it looked more like an eel, three eyes large and wide yet staring for eternity at nothing. Its mouth was open in a savage looking snarl, its last emotion forever locked on its face.

"Five-Minion, it's you!" Six declared as he rushed forward to the small orb that like the others, had the date of arrival and date of death but something caught his attention.

Six stopped in place when he saw the next chamber. It was completely empty, but already full of the clear liquid that helped suspend the others in their containers. There was a plaque, the date reading it as sixteen years ago, Christmas Day. The name emblazed upon it was unmistakable and thrust a shard of fear through his entire being.

"Six." he whispered.

But what equally terrified him was the second date... something told him it was incredibly close. Very, very close. As he slowly reached out to touch his own future casket his head suddenly felt like it was going to explode. He staggered back, and clutched at his head in agony as the pain rippled throughout his entire being.

"SIR!" Minion gasped, eyes wide in alarm. "What is it Sir, Sir, what is it?"

"My... my head..." Six strained, his eyes tightly shut as tears began to stream down his face. This had never happened before, sure he had experienced headaches but never something to his level or scale. He tried opening his eyes but found it impossible, and soon the black and bright stars bouncing around in his vision was replaced with something else. It was like he was suddenly in a vehicle hurtling towards a blue planet beneath him. Alarms were sounding in a language he couldn't understand, and when his hands tried to gain control of his vehicle his hands were no longer blue. They were green, his fingers long and spindly, and the very last thing he saw was the earth getting closer and closer before being blacked out by a gigantic explosion.

There was a flash and another memory, another vision that felt like it could be his own memory. This time the alien had survived the crash, but was in agony. He could feel it coursing through his body so badly he collapsed on the floor. A language filled his head, ancient and old, and the last thing he saw before blacking out was the large trucks that had knocked down the prison walls lumbering up.

The pain vanished, and Six lay there, panting rapidly. It felt like he was going to be sick. But he pushed his hands to the ground and forced himself to sit up, but found he wasn't in the room full of the alien remains anymore. He was somewhere... not. It was very dark, and very cold.

"Minion...?" he asked quietly.

"**Six.**"

The voice made him jump and he spun around on the spot.

"**Be not afraid Six. We are the Fallen. We have waited for you to come to us.**"

"W-waited...?" Six asked quietly.

"**We sent your Minion to teach you of what you are about to receive. Long have we awaited for one of your kind to come to this planet, prayed to the all blessed stars of our fathers that you will come. Fate has finally delivered you to us. What you are about to receive, use however way you wish but remember us, Six. Remember.**"

"What am I about to receive, what are you talking about?" the blue child cried, his hearts racing.

"**Something from all of us. The ability to move objects with your mind. Another to read your preys mind and to delve into their deepest, darkest secrets. And the art of killing. Use them well, young one. Live. For we have died.**"

Six didn't know what to say, but the light suddenly returned so brightly he swore he would go blind. The pain in his head felt like his very skull was about to crack open and his brains would explode all over the floors. Shutting his eyes, he screamed, long and loud as the pain continued to roar like a fire out of control.

It all stopped as suddenly as it start, and when those green eyes opened again, he was in the room again. Minion was hovering over him, eyes wide with concern but also a look of pride. So he had been sent, on purpose, by One through Four to teach him...? All those years, when Minion would play games with him by turning off the lights and cameras, giving him the names of the people in the facility... that had been him all along? It had all been for a specific plan...?

"Sir, please. We're running out of time...!" Minion whispered, "We have to go!"

Pulled out of his trance of horror and shock Six got to his feet and quickly glanced at One through Four and gave them a grim nod, before he reached forward and grabbed the small orb and held it under his arm as he rushed back through past the room full of specimens. His mind was on fire. The people taking care of him were going to kill him? Not only cut him open but leave him open, allow his hearts to stop, and then put him up on display with the other aliens that had died on this miserable rock. He refused to join them, this wasn't his destiny, this wasn't what his parents had sent him to do at all.

He jumped over the two Tie men, hearts racing as he continued down the hallway. The lift was finally within reach, skidded, and smacked into the doors before falling backwards onto his rear. Minion gasped in surprise, "Sir, are you all right?"

"Ow, my giant blue head..." Six whimpered as he sat up. The water falling from the ceilings suddenly stopped, along with the wailing siren. Their cover gone, Six got to his feet and hit the button on the lift. In the distance he could hear thundering footsteps. The men in white must have found his room, the two dead doctors, and no doubt they'd soon be tripping over the dead and dying men with ties. Would they have weaponry? He didn't know how he would withstand against them and he had no plan on finding out.

"Come on, come on..." he chanted at the lift. "Damnit come _ON_!"Six pleaded, and he heard the foot steps just around the corner at the end of the corridor when the doors opened and it was the single most gratifying moment of his life. He dashed inside and slammed the top-most button on the lift and it slid shut just as he heard the men down the other end of the corridor shouting orders. Inside the lift was reflective mirrors, and when Six glanced at one he actually shouted in surprise and flung himself back against one of the walls. While he had seen his reflection before it was never a full body one, never before had he seen just how skinny he was. Never before had he such a view of just how many scars and holes covered the back of his skull before. Tilting his head he saw the bandage covering the hole that was used to extract CTS from.

Shivering he turned his face away, and breathed a shaky breath.

"Sir..." Minion whispered as he hovered by the boy's head. "We're not through yet... we're very deep underground. We need to catch another lift."

Six could have cried. He knew that by now there would be alarm bells all throughout the facility of his escape, and he could all but see men grabbing guns with tranquilizers to knock him out or worse... he _had_ killed men. But they deserved it, for all their lies, all of them. The blinking lights on the lift continued to blink, counting down to the upper level that they were travelling through to. Six took a few shaky breaths before he looked above him at the ceiling.

"All right remember, don't aim for the head. We want the brain intact." ordered the security officer in charge, his dark green outfit a contrast with the white hall ways. With him were three men, all wearing black, and carrying guns that were long and sleek. The elevator before them finally announced its arrival with a cheerful 'ding!' and the doors slid open. Trigger fingers activated, all three opened a round into the elevator, shattering one of the mirrors and no doubt giving them all seven years bad luck.

The alien was not there.

"What?" the officer barked.

"Maybe he didn't go in it at all?" asked one of his men, "It could have been a ruse."

One of the men cautiously began to approach the elevator as the rest of his men decided to radio in for further information pertaining if those above had been 100% certain as to weather the alien went into the lift or not.

The security man looked around, but saw nothing, and only heard the sound of crunching glass under foot. If he had bothered to look down at his feet though, the shattered remains of the destroyed mirror might have given away just what was happening. Six had pushed a tile on the roof of the elevator away and had crawled through to the top the machine. He stared down at the man who looked around the elevator.

It was time to use what he had been taught.

The men outside were still talking when they heard the sudden scream of the man inside the elevator. Turning back to it they saw him falling back down to the ground onto the glass, head twisted in a grotesque fashion. The gun he was holding was gone.

This sent the remaining three going and just as they entered the lift the doors slammed shut behind them and the elevator plummeted like a stone down the long, dark shaft. Six had grabbed the upper wires of the machine just after severing them with a truly harsh look, and leapt through the still open doors onto the floor.

"I must say Sir that was amazing!" Minion gushed happily, fins wriggling.

"Thank you. I know." Six replied as he continued to run down the hall way. The fear and apprehension he had felt on the other floor was now gone, replaced with a strength and courage he didn't know possible. In his hand was the gun, it would serve more purpose to him then its dead previous owner. So they had planned on killing him one way or another. This sent his blood into a boiling rage as he continued running down the hall way.

But something suddenly gave him pause; he stopped in his tracks, and suddenly went into a door which had been locked. But one swipe with Black Tie's card it was opening before him.

"Um, Sir? Your big escape? What are you..."

"They have something else of mine." Six whispered as he entered the room.

This one was done up in a similar way to the specimen room, but instead of decaying alien bodies this room held their machines. Large ships that had broken on impact were put on display like old relics in a museum. They, like the dead aliens, had dates on them as to when they arrived. These machines had practically been taken apart and put back together in a vain attempt of stealing their secrets, and Six wondered just how much mankind had learned from them. Stealth bombing? Sonar? He didn't know, nor was it his right to know. All that mattered was that mankind now had his hands on these things...

Then he saw it. At the very end of the room was a small, round, familiar looking sphere. It was the one his parents had made for him, and besides it was the small pacifier his father had given him. Reaching out boldly Six snatched the binkey and held it up. Sitting on the pedestal it had been mounted on it had been grey and dead, yet the second his fingers touched it he felt the thrill of electricity and life buzz through his fingers. The small device suddenly burst to life, brightly glowing a blue color of pure energy. Pocketing the binkey Six was just about to turn and leave when a bullet just missed his head. Shouting, Six dove behind Three's large ship, eyes wide.

"Come on out Six!" shouted a voice he didn't know. "We've got you surrounded!"

"We hate to shoot you, Six!" said another voice.

Six said nothing, hearts racing as his mind raced just as if not quicker in his head, trying to work out what to do. What could he do? Turning his head he saw a grate leading through to the air ducts. If he could just get in there... as if on command the cover fell away, and landed deafly on the ground despite being made of metal. Six grinned to himself and Minion flew over and into the ducts straight away.

"Come on Sir!" the fish called.

The alien took a deep breath and got to his feet and spun as he came out behind the ship. He said nothing as he unloaded bullets into the men who were naturally at odds of shooting a young alien. Too bad the young alien had no qualms, for just as four of them began to four and the rest began firing, Six was already in the duct and out of reach.

"GOD DAMN THESE BULLET PROOF WALLS!" shouted one of the officers as other men ran forward to the duct entrance, but knew it was a lost cause. Six himself just barely fit, and they as adult men would have no chance.

"Aliens in the air ducts. Why am I not surprised?"

The space was very cramp, and Six was crawling on his hands and knees through the duct. The gun was fitted down the back of his shirt, chaffing his skin, but it was nothing he couldn't handle and this was the only way for him to crawl through. Minion's original orb, and his body, was pushed ahead of him.

"Sir do we know where we're going?" the little fish asked.

"The ducts lead through to the elevator shaft." the alien reported, "I saw them on my way out of here. If we can make it to that shaft we can power down the elevator enabling them from following us. Then, we simply... fly out."

"Fly, Sir?" Minion blinked.

"If I can move things with my mind, ergo, that should mean I can move myself." Six replied, "Only one way to find out."

"But _Sir_! If you're wrong you could fall to your death!"

"Better die by my own choice then these people kill me." Six grumbled, to which Minion had no answer.

They crawled for over an hour until Six finally saw the grayness that was the interior of the elevator shaft ahead of them. Suspecting an ambush though, Six slowed down and came to a stop not too far from the exit point. Pulling out his gun he aimed it at a slight angle, and let go a shot.

It echoed inside the shaft and he heard return fire coming from above them. So, they had laid in ambush. No doubt they had opened the doors to the elevators so they could see down in the shaft. Six frowned then wriggled a little further and just managed to see in the reflector interior of the air duct. There were a group of them, most lying flat and guns pointing downwards.

Six narrowed his eyes, and concentrated. The next thing what happened was no doubt disturbing, and disgusting. The doors to the elevator suddenly slammed shut, pinning, and crushing, the men who had been foolish enough to lay in it. Bloodied limbs stuck out, and guns fell past Six down into the darkness below. Quickly Six crawled out and peered down the long, deep shaft.

"Are you sure... Sir?" Minion asked.

"No." Six replied before smiling at the fish and gripped the orb to his chest. "If this is the end, Minion... then thank you. For everything. You're my best friend and I wouldn't have done any of this without you."

"Thank you Sir. I promised I'd take care of you, and I'll stick with you no matter what." the fish replied.

The two smiled at each other, before Six crawled out of the duct, and leapt out into the darkness.

To be continued 


	5. Chapter 5

Metro City had always been a bustling place to live. Towards the centre of the city there were the more important buildings, like Metro Tower, City hall, Museums and other such buildings of significance. The kind that teachers took their students to on field trips, and where visitors would visit to pick up tacky memorabilia to remember their trip to Metro City. Of course there were office buildings all around as well, storey's tall, all of them as important as the rest. Accountants, law firms, work cover, health care, and the like. It was much like many other large cities dotting the country of America, but this one held a secret not everyone was privy to. Deep underground Metro City, in fact built underneath the ocean floor itself, was a facility. Only a select few knew of how to enter the underground area without being seen, and those would gladly took the secret to the grave.

How sad it was that a majority of them, that day, lived up to that premise.

The docklands lived up to their names; it was where large and small boats would dock after a hard days work. Fishermen walked the planks day in, day out, and little old men would throw their fishing lines into the water in hopes of catching a fish to make their friends envious and their wives annoyed. It was relatively peaceful, outside of a few muggings that took place down there since the docklands weren't particularly known to be crime free areas. Next to the docks was a car yard, old and abandoned. People had long since given up their fight to have the old cars removed and replaced with something handy, like say a place to rent boats on in order to take a quick sail around the harbour of the city or at least a fish and chips shop. Little did they know that was in here that a secret entrance existed.

Tonight, a black cat was dozing on the roof of an old dented, rust encrusted white car when its fur suddenly stood on end, and it leapt away while yowling in annoyance that its nap had been interrupted. The hood of the car suddenly slammed open with such a force it went flying through the air before crashing on the ground, underneath where the hood once resided was no dead battery but an escalator. It seemed to vanish down into the middle of the earth, small lights the only way of seeing where you were going, and when to lower your head so not to bump it on the ceiling.

The cat watched cautiously from its safe haven across the way, and heard footsteps fast approaching from within the car. A second later a blue skinned boy with a large head erupted out of the car. He held in his hands two guns, one that was large black and sleek, obviously of the highest quality and bullets that probably cost a few hundred thousand dollars to fire. In his other appeared a homemade gun, apparently made from bits and pieces found in a kitchen and bathroom. You could clearly see a hair dryer, a few kitchen utensils, and black tape used to hold it all together. However at its barrel end was a blue glowing ring. And under the arm that held the homemade gun was a round glass ball, with a dead little fish inside.

His once white outfit was now stained with water, smoke, blood, and grease. Panting wildly, Six continued running refusing to look back. A moment later the ground itself seemed to tremble and quake, only to fall silent... then plumes of smoke began to emerge from not only that old rusted car but many cars, some from even large abandoned factories on the docks whose windows were already smashed. It sent shockwaves, causing waves to arch and crash into one another on the ocean, also causing old cars to topple and smash against one another inside the fake junkyard. It even sent some toppling onto the rusting white car, destroying the exit in its entirety.

The sky was pitch dark, stars incapable of piercing through the brightness and pollution caused by the city, but young Six didn't have time to stop and observe the world outside. He had to put as much distance between him and the facility as possible, no doubt there would be other exits for people to take. They might have radioed in for help, what if the government was looking for him now? The police? He dare not risk it and hang around to look at the world he had long since wanted to experience.

The stillness of the night didn't help to deafen the sounds of his footfalls on the dry concrete, or the panting of the young boy.

"We did it Sir, we did it!" Minion declared as he floated after his master.

"Yes, I did it!" Six grinned widely, despite his aching lungs and legs, continuing his marathon across the empty docks.

He turned a corner and stopped short in his tracks for not too far from him stood a man. He wore a long over coat and scarf, and from the looks of him he looked pretty intoxicated, the way he was swaying to and fro like that.

Six looked at the big coat, and suddenly realized how cold it was out here. It was freezing, and he was only wearing his white pants and shirt, along with his shoes. It being nighttime didn't help either. He straightened his back and marched towards the man, despite Minion squealing at him to stop and to not approach him.

"You!" Six declared, stopping in front of the drunken man.

"...hhnnffhhhg?" the man asked, breath reeking like something had crawled in and died.

"Give me your jacket and scarf." the alien ordered.

The drunkard swayed in response.

"Give them to me, _now_, Alfred." Six hissed, his name appearing as clear as day to the young alien as if he had known him his entire life.

Alfred blinked, and seemed to realize the importance of this especially when he suddenly found a gun pointed at his face. He shed his jacket, and scarf and handed them over. Six quickly pulled it on, and laughed at how the jacket was down to his ankles. Doing it up, he slipped the guns into the overly large pockets, and used the scarf to create a means of carrying the glass orb without incident. He looped it over his front, before stepping back and eyeing the jacketless man.

"Thank you. Now hold still." he aimed the more home made gun and fired; the next second instead of a man standing there... a small blue glowing cube sat there. "A-hah! It DOES work!" he cheered.

"Excellent work, Sir." Minion complimented.

"I know right? A de-hydration gun. And to think, they would have wanted me to make this for THEM to use!" Six snorted as he put the gun into his pocket and began to hurry along still, fastening the coat shut around him. There was little he could do about his oversized head, but if he hurried quick enough he should be all right at least until he got his hands on some means of transportation. He had to put as much distance between himself and the facility as quickly as possible.

They ran along in silence, using shadows as frequently as possible, and ducking out of view whenever a car would happen to roll by. Six had read about the things, he had even commented on some modifications on the fuel consumption of them in a way to improve them, but he had never seen one in person. They were like monsters, and their design fascinated him. Remaining behind a trashcan the young alien watched as a car, big, black and old, parked near by and half on the sidewalk. The driver seemed tipsy too since he staggered out, and wandered into a near by bar.

"Sir, what are you doing? Sir!" Minion gasped as Six got out from his hiding spot and approached the car. Cautiously he reached out and touched the door, it was smooth, and reflected his distorted image back at him. He slid his hand, now with the other, along all the way to the hood where he felt the metal was still warm from the ride. The front was a little dirty though, mud, sticks, and leaves stuck to the front. The alien frowned at seeing such a fine piece of machinery in a state of filth, before he glanced up into the drivers seat.

His hearts stopped.

The keys were still in there. If this wasn't fate lending him a hand then he just escaped from certain death for nothing. Much to Minion's dismay Six climbed in and strapped in after doing the same to the orb holding Minion's body. The fish joined him, frowning at Six. "You shouldn't steal, Sir!"

"It's my only chance of putting space between us and them. Do you want me to go back there, Minion? Do you?" he asked, eyes narrowed at the fish. Minion looked sheepish, and looked at the floor. "Exactly. Now..." he turned the keys and the engine rumbled to life. The next second the car knew it was hurtling down the street being driven by a run away alien teenager who was beginning to smell of blood. As he drove, the radio flicked itself on and a tsunami of music hit his ears. Now, back in the facility, he heard music of course. Most if it written by men who had died over four hundred years ago. This music though, was loud, electric, it had a beat to which he could smack his hand against the wheel with.

Then it reached the chorus.

I'm on a highway to Hell! On the highway to Hell! Highway to Hell! I'm on a highway to Hell!

It was like hearing the voice of angels, each one speaking words which Six had never heard before. They brought such clarity, such promise, it was like an internal explosion, which didn't bring any destruction and devastation but music and celebration. He found the volume knob and turned it louder still as the guitar began to play its riff, and that wonderful singer began singing the chorus again. Guitars squealing, drums beating, it was absolutely amazing.

"Sir, please pay attention to the road!" Minion squeaked as they just avoided driving into a taxi.

"Oh yes, right... c'mon Minion, keep your scales on." Six smirked in amusement as they continued to drive, thankfully slowing the speed so he wouldn't be spotted due to speeding. It didn't help that it was pitch black outside, and when he was driving nobody really gave him much of a second glance because if you were outside at this time of night you were only out for trouble. He couldn't help but peer at a group of women wearing clothes he had NEVER seen before loitering at a corner. It showed curves and bared legs, and just how log cut their tops were! It was alarming to think such people would dress like that, since Lens DEFINETELY never wore clothes like that.

Six started to take the roads that led up through the town. He avoided places with well-lit areas, and soon found himself at a large sign reading 'Observatory : Under Construction' but was covered up with another sign reading 'Condemned'. Finding this curious, Six found a shaded place to park the car and pocketed the keys and grabbed Minion's orb. Carefully he walked up to the sign and squeezed easily beneath the fence before continuing forward.

Once the canopy trees got out of his way he saw what was quite possibly one of the most beautiful architectural wonders he had ever seen. A large dome shaped building, white as his old cell but showing signs of the weather as well as wear and tear. It showed why it was abandoned, the driveway leading up to it had broken away and obviously the city felt it wasn't worth fixing.

"What a waste..." Six said aloud, before looking to Minion. "What do you think Minion? Think this will suit us?"

"Suit us, Sir?" the fish queried, tilting his body to the side.

"Yes! A hide out! A place to live!" he explained, and looked back to the observatory. "It's absolutely perfect! Rooted in science and mathematics, plus it's connected to the stars! I can't imagine any better place to live." Six grinned, before he approached the edge of where the road stopped. While he had just managed to save himself at the last second in the elevator shaft, this time he was far surer of himself. Concentrating on his whole body and where he wanted to go. As before, he shut his eyes, too scared to open them and look down in case seeing how high he was would stop his newly formed ability and plummet to his death. Again.

"You did it Sir!" Minion's cheery voice pulled his eyes open, and discovered the fish was right. He was on the correct side of the broken road, and the observatory stood before him, inviting him in its silent aura.

Six smiled proudly, pleased by his accomplishment, before he began to march up to the observatory. Pushing the door opened he walked in, and discovered just how empty it was. The entrance lobby was completely deserted, with large white sheets covering everything. Dust was everywhere, and he could clearly see bird nests scattered on any place high. In fact there were sleeping birds in a fair few of them, and one large, old looking owl looked at him in a curious manner but did not take flight.

"It's perfect." Six whispered, amazed at the birds and how small they were. He had never seen a bird before either, only those in books but that was merely in order to see how their body shapes pertained to how well they went in flight. Seeing them curled up against one another in a nest, sleeping peacefully, made his hearts do something funny. They felt warm. "Absolutely perfect." he echoed. "Come Minion, I want to see if the telescope is still operating!"

They found the stairs, since all power to the plant was cut by the electric company years ago, and made their way up the winding staircase. Passing through another doorway they entered in the observation room and Six let out a loud gasp. The telescope was absolutely huge, taking up practically every inch of the space above them. It was silver, and showed its age, no doubt made at least forty years ago but to Six it was as if it was fresh out of the box. Putting the orb of Minion down he rushed over to the chair in which a scientist no doubt would have spent hours at.

Then he saw that the observatory gates were shut. Frustrated, he smacked his fists against the chair. "Damnit!" he swore, "God damnit! Where's the power in this dreadful place..." he said as he got out of his chair and began following the large cables.

"Sir, if you return power here, won't people notice if this observatory begins to suck power again?" Minion asked as he followed Six.

"I won't use THEIR power, Minion." Six replied and held up the blue binkey in his hand. "I'll use this. I'll simply place it in the correct place, reconnect the flow of power and boom! We'll have lights, electricity, warmth, and a telescope to watch the skies. Course, I won't use it all the time. I don't want to attract attention..." he said as he opened a door labelled 'Maintenance Entrance - Warning! High voltage!' and found the monster of an engine which kept this place running.

It too, looked very old. Six made a wistful sighing noise and hurried down the steel steps and touched the large circular dials, buttons, and switches. "Oh Minion... the things this machine must have seen in the past years...! We're in history, Minion. We ARE a part of history...!"

Minion simply smiled, and hovered close as his master began fussing and fiddling with the power core of the machine. "What happens if somebody does find us, sir? You can't use your hydration gun without the binkey."

"You raise a valid question Minion," Six replied as he squeezed the small device into the heart of the machine. "But you forget I am a genius. I already know a way to harness the power for myself. I just need a few things that I can surely find in this place, and unlimited power from my binkey shall be at my disposal!"

"Oh Sir you truly are a genius." gushed the fish, to which Six simply snorted and blushed.

After a few more moments Six withdrew and shut the door on the engine shut, and then found the means in which turning on the power... a big green button. He hit it, and waited. For a moment it almost seemed as though it hadn't worked but suddenly all the lights powered on. The quiet hum of an air conditioner reached his ears, and the most wonderful sound of all... a telescope powering up... met his ears. Six dashed from the maintenance room and flew up the stairs (practically) to the telescope. All ready the large doors were beginning to ease open after years of neglect. Twigs and leaves tumbled inside, as did the cool night air.

Climbing into the seat, Six put his eye to the large eyepiece and watched.

The night sky was so much clearer up here, above the city and its bright lights. Above him the black sky opened its secrets to him, and the stars felt so close he could reach out and touch them. To think he had come from out there, somewhere... in fact, he might even be able to calculate just where he had come from. Naturally he wouldn't find a planet there, only an empty black hole sucking in anything that got too close but... it was important for him to see it. To find his home out there even if it was lost to him forever. Tonight it wouldn't work though, that much he knew. It was too early, and he had to prepare a bed for himself and find the closest place where he could get some food.

Not legally, of course. He had no means of obtaining legal tender. On top of that he had to make his hydration gun fully functional, so it was no time to sleep yet.

The night wore on, and the observatory saw more action then it had done in over twenty years. Rooms were cleared; toolboxes were located and used to the best of their abilities and conversation echoed in the large, empty dome. By the time the sun was just beginning to peek out over the horizon of mountains and farms to the East Six was almost ready to fall asleep at his table when Minion suddenly jostled him awake.

"Sir, Sir! It's the morning! The morning!" he insisted.

Six's green eyes were wide and alert seconds later, and he ran up to the large gates and stared out, shadowed only by the giant telescope held high above him. He watched as the dark skies slowly began to lighten. An orange hue meshed with the blue, and the thin white clouds stretched out across the morning skies. Finally the sun freed of its restraints by gravity and seemingly set the sky on fire itself. The blue alien, who had never witnessed a sun coming up in the mornings, could only stare in wonder at the majesty of it all. Already he could feel the warmth touching his cheeks and forehead, and within the lobby of the observatory he heard the rustling of the birds and early morning tweeting and singing. Moments later they erupted from a broken window, the sky filling with little birds that went off in search of food.

Six smiled and slowly moved away from the large doors of the observatory, and shut a button. Loudly the gates shut, and anybody outside would have no knowledge of the observatory being functioning. Making his way to the power room he switched it all off, and retrieved his binkey. The teenager still needed to divide the energy of his binkey so he could power other goods, but that could wait till later. Glancing around, as if suspecting he was being watched, he put the pacifier into his mouth and went to the bed he had located.

It had once been a sick bay, and it was full of beds. Six found the more comfortable one, with a thicker mattress, and peeled off his dirty clothes and deposited them all on the floor. He would worry about needing a new change of clothes later for right now, he was exhausted and needed all the sleep he could get. Tugging the blankets up to his shoulder, he rolled onto his side and allowed his eyes to shut. The only light in the room was that of the faint glow given off by his binkey, and it brought on a comforting feeling he had never truly experienced before.

He was free. While he doubted he could live here for the rest of his life, he was finally out of the facility. There would no longer be needles, tests, reports, or anything. The alien wouldn't be killed and cut open, studied, then put on display amongst the other aliens. Now, their remains lay buried under ground where they belonged. They deserved peace, just as any being had a right to have in their death.

Six sighed contentedly and slipped into a dreamless state, too exhausted to dream, or be bothered by what he had witnessed that night.

The following days the news was an interesting affair to read about. The earthquake, which had rocked the docks, was reportedly caused by the continental shift, or something along those lines. Underground fires had apparently revealed a long forgotten mine, made back in the early settler days when Metro City was a simple little ocean port town when people believed gold to be hidden beneath. There were no reports of death, or explosions, or an escaped alien on the loose. What kind of city government would allow such a cover up to be revealed to the public? Yet meanwhile in the five-cent newspapers that detailed Bigfoot's latest sighting, there was news of an alien stealing a man's jacket, and then his car.

Course since the men had been very much drunk, one of them ended up being apprehended for drinking while driving, nobody took the stories seriously. The car, and the 'alien', was never found though. Probably because Six had moved the car from one side of the bushes to the side with the observatory, actually parked inside.

There was even news of a mugger making his way around the city. Always in darkened places, the mugger would appear with a gun and demanding whatever it was the person had just bought at the local store. Even demanding a watch off of one person and a leather jacket off of another. He had tried to attack and had ended up with a bullet wound to the leg, just to be sure no blood got on the leather. People shopping from local music stores were also accosted, always the ones wearing AC/DC clothing, or appeared like heavy rock fans. Their music was snatched away, never to be seen again.

Yet despite multiple sightings, the police had no leads. There were no fingerprints, no foot prints, no DNA, nothing. They were at a loss, so across the city there were 'Wanted' posters showing details as to their height, stature, and weapon used. Subject was armed, and dangerous, and gripped the city in fear.

"This is just horrible..." sighed a man reading a newspaper while sat at his breakfast table. Across from him sat his fourteen year old daughter, "What's the city coming to?" he asked.

"Is it that mugger again?" his daughter asked, sitting straighter in hopes of peering over the newspaper to see the page her father was reading.

"Roxy I wish you didn't insist on walking to school these days." she heard her father said as she spotted the artists sketch on the assailant. He looked fairly young, but always dressed in large, baggy clothes and a hood with a scarf. "Just look at this guy, what if he jumps you and shoots you like he did that other guy?"

"Daddy please." Roxanne rolled her eyes, snatching the newspaper off of her father to properly read the article. "He only attacks at night time and never in this part of town you know that!"

"Yes but what if he starts to shake things up a bit?" he asked, "You can't trust criminals Roxy, never turn your back on one if you meet one."

"I never would, Daddy." she replied with a smirk.

"Are you letting our daughter read that depressing news again?" it was her mother, walking in with some toast and eggs on a plate. She set one in front of her husband, and her daughter. "It's no good for her!"

"_Moooooommmmm_." Roxanne whined, "You know I wanna become a journalist! It's important for me to read up on local events, plus I'm thinking of doing an article on him for the school newspaper about the importance of safety when out at night." she pointed out, reading over the news paper.

Her mother huffed and rolled her eyes in a way similar to her daughter, before going back to the kitchen to clean up the mess she made. Roxanne read over the article, apparently the police estimated that the mugger had been responsible for over thirty counts of armed robbery but never from companies, but individual people. There was always a claim on a car being stolen, but through their guess the person shouldn't even know HOW to drive to begin with, so another person must have stolen the car.

The whole thing fascinated her, those inner reporter feelings buzzing at the prospect of running into the person. Course, she knew she never would. What would she do, exactly? This person had a weapon, all she had was mace. That might be enough to stun the person but little to nothing else. Still, she made a note to always carry a camera in her bag in case her father was right and the mugger would attempt to rob somebody in board daylight, and in his or her area.

Man, that would be _so_ awesome.

To be continued 


	6. Chapter 6

Over the following months Roxanne's eyes stayed peeled to the newspapers, seeking out any further information regarding the mugger who had showed up in town. It seemed the muggings had finally stopped, and was no longer in the headlines but instead something far worse had taken its place. At first it was fairly small things, scrap yards were being raided, in the middle of the night despite there being guard dogs on patrol whole mountains of wrecked machinery was vanishing.

At first the mayor tried putting a positive spin on things, claiming that as long as somebody wants the city's garbage than by all means let them have it.

But soon robberies were on the rise. Many kinds of stores were broken into and all but wiped clean and every single time this happened the video security cameras had no footage of the assailant. They would, seemingly, have power cut to them despite their power boxes being well guarded within the depths of the buildings hit. Electrical goods, fabrics and even leather good stores were being raided.

"Do you think it's the same guy or just different gangs?" Roxanne asked her father over breakfast one morning. The newspapers had progressively gotten worse over the past couple of months, and gave most cause for worry even more so then just a mugger jumping people.

"Well look at how big these heists are," her father said as he leaned over to look down at the photograph in the paper. It showed a leather goods store which specialized in clothing. "One night its electric goods, the other its music stores, now its leather. It's too diverse, and how would just one guy be able to get this much done in such little time? No, it can't be the same man." he leaned back in his chair. "I suspect it's just a crime spree."

"Yeah but how can all the cameras just not work?" Roxanne asked, "How can they explain that?"

"Power cuts?" her father shrugged. "There are faults with electricity every day, honey."

"But how can they know when they're about to happen? The closest anyone's gotten to seeing the face of this guy was that raid on the science museum last month and they only managed to get his shadow before the camera powered down!" Roxanne slapped the newspaper in irritation. She was certain that this was the acts of one man, but a man with considerable time and help on his side. Was he running a gang? There had been no news on gang related violence or activity lately, and they used to highlight the newspapers every other week!

She wondered if there was a man moving up in the ranks of the criminal underworld. Who would challenge a man who could empty out stores in a night without being seen by anyone? Or emptying scrap yards as if they were picking up their washing from a Laundromat? It was amazing, she wished harder than ever that she was out there on the field investigating and following leads, but she was only sixteen. She was still being reviewed for an internship at the local news channel, KMPG 8, and they still hadn't gotten back to her despite sending in an investigative report on homelessness in the city and interviewing numerous homeless people of all ages.

She growled in frustration and put the newspaper down.

"Don't worry your head none, honey bun." her father said, reaching out and ruffled her long brown hair in that affectionate way fathers did despite their children hating it, "This isn't yours to worry about. Leave it to the police; I'm sure they've got it all under control."

"We have no leads." announced a constable to the commissioner of the Metro City Police Force. The commissioner was an intimidating looking dark skinned man, with short cropped black hair who looked rightly impressive wearing his deep blue jacket that covered a three piece suit. "There are no fingerprints, no footprints, no DNA, nothing! It's like... it's like the guy doesn't even exist."

"But we know he does." the commissioner said as he looked over the photos of the crime scenes, and especially that one still of a long, thin, distorted shadow falling over a soon to be smashed in window. He couldn't get the image out of his mind, how incredibly thin it appeared, and how the head seemed larger then possible. No doubt a trick of the light, though. If this was their guy he'd stick out like a sore thumb.

"Henry, c'mon." the constable said, "We can't do anything without any leads."

"Stan?" Henry asked, lifting his gaze to the policeman across from him. "We can NOT afford to sit by and continue to let this guy attack our city. Now he's collecting things, he has to be. But what would he want with scrap metal, leather, electrical goods, and... fish?" he paused and stared blankly at the latest report that had been laid on his desk just that morning.

"You're kidding. He stole the only pair of angler fish from the aquarium? And... and some piranhas?" he stared at the photographs that had accompanied the report. The aquarium of Metro City had recently gotten two angler fish, an incredibly rare fish that had never been on display to humans before in the history of aquariums. It involved maintaining a very expensive water tank, which was highly pressurized like an airplane to mimic the depths in which the fish normally lived. "Now he's stealing FISH! I want this sicko, Stan!" Henry got to his feet, and slammed his hand down onto the desk, making the contents shake. "He's making a mockery of ALL of us!"

"Look at you, yes look at you. You're adorable, aren't you? Yes you are, yes you are! You want some goldfish? Yes you do!" Six was simpering to the two angler fish that were now in his possession. The two, large, hideously ugly fish stared blindly in the darkness of their tank, the only light being that coming off the little orbs hanging in front of their faces. The blue alien smiled, and grabbed a bag full of goldfish and tipped three into the water. Naturally attracted by the light the little fish swam towards the lights, and seconds later were snapped up quicker then Six could blink. "I love that." he grinned.

"So let me just... repeat myself, Sir." Minion said as he watched the last goldfish was quickly snatched up. "Using these animals DNA, mixed with the piranhas, and my own body, you're planning on...?"

"Creating an army of robotic fish." Six replied in a matter of fact before turning and grinning at his fishy companion. They were in the lobby of the observatory only now one wouldn't recognize it. Machinery lay around, robot bodies half completed hung from the ceiling, and a new creation from the genius hovered around observing everything. "I need muscle, Minion, and as helpful as my Brain Bots are I need more. What better then sentient fish willing to do my bidding?" he asked as a brain bot hovered close. The alien turned his attention to it, and petted its glowing head.

"You aren't trying to replace me, are you Sir?" the fish asked quietly, voice tiny and nervous. It was a fear, obviously, of being replaced by a whole army of alien fish spliced with Earthling fish.

"What? No!" Six gaped and turned his attention to his fish. "No clone could ever replace you in my heart, Minion! You're my number one, my alpha, my omega, my everything! Nothing in this world could repalce you. So put any of those silly thoughts out of your mind. In fact I am creating you a very special suit, with more abilities than the rest. You'll be able to control it, and nobody else. Not even me."

The little fish gave a happy noise in response, happy at what he had heard.

"And anyway, I want to have some fun with those police s'more. They'll be delighted to find footprints at a crime scene! Shame it'll be made of metal and unlike anything they've seen before!" Six laughed, and the little brain bot barked in reaction happily.

Minion looked back at the angler fish, and then slowly scanned the room. Six had advanced so quickly out here, having cleaned up everything himself, and even gone so far as to sound-proof the whole observatory. A good thing, since he was working with heavy machinery most nights and the noise alone would attract attention. He had already created at least thirty brain bots, all of which acted like excitable puppies and went with Six on his raids of the city. He had seen the specs of the robot suits, gorilla-like in appearance but with hidden weaponry that could be operated either by the fish inside, or by Six himself. The alien was gearing himself up for something, something very, very bad. The city which he had lived beneath, hidden from sight and knowledge, was going to pay for what had happened to him.

But only after an important part of his plan.

The woman hurried across the street, and cursed her new job at the library for keeping her such late hours. She glanced over her shoulders as she walked from the train station towards her apartment building. Ever since her loss at the facility which had been destroyed by Six, she had to get a new job, a job which paid much less then the last one. She had lost her apartment near Metro Tower, her car, many of her possessions sold in order to make payments on new debts and bills she had easily dealt with before.

She hated it.

But she knew she wasn't the only one. Many doctors and scientists hadn't been in the facility the night Six escaped, and they had gone into hiding just as instructed. They took on new identities, already prepared for them by the government. Families were put under protective services, and livelihoods promised. Just... not delivered. She returned to her one room apartment, grumbling to herself and turned to switch on the lights. They weren't working.

"Oh come ON!" she groaned, "I paid the electricity bill...!" Estella stumbled in the darkness, feeling for her way through to the kitchen where she knew she had a flashlight in case of such emergencies. She hoped the power hadn't been out too long; otherwise all the food in her fridge would be worthless. "Great, just great... another list of things to add to why my life sucks..." she muttered, her English accent somehow making her complaining seem very classy.

"Oh you _poor_ thing."

Estella screamed as she heard the voice and spun around as a light suddenly exploded in the darkness, and landed on her. The light was a yellow red color, and bathed her in light. She couldn't see what it was coming from, but she could see the outline of somebody sitting on her recliner in the corner. The person was thin, with crossed legs, and folded hands in their lap.

"Who are you, what do you want?" she cried, pressing herself against the wall and wished she had some mace or something to throw at the person.

"Why Estella. You don't know me?" the voice asked and the person got to their feet and began to walk towards her. "I'm almost hurt... Lens."

Estella's eyes widened when she saw who it finally was. The light washed over him and it was no denying it. It was Six, all right. Only instead of the white she had always seen him wear now he was clad in black. The material must have been latex for it was tight and figure hugging against his slim frame. Upon his feet lay boots that were buckled, and the heels huge to make him seem taller than usual. There were gloves that travelled all the way up his arms, held in place by more buckles just under his arms.

"Six..." she whispered shakily.

"Ah, there we go." Six smiled pleasantly, putting his hands together as the brain bot hovered closer to the woman so she could see the bear trap of a mouth it possessed. "Funny how one word can just bring everything rushing back isn't it? The psychological profiling after a busy day of testing and experiments... how you thought flashing Rorschach ink blot tests at me would help identify my mindset more. It's all rather pathetic now that you think about it, isn't it?"

Estella knew why he was here, she didn't have to ask. He wanted vengeance. She swallowed quickly. "B-but wait how... how did you find me?" she asked.

"I've known your name since I was fourteen years old you stupid woman." Six snapped, "I knew everything about you by the time I was fifteen! You think I would let you or any of those pathetic little men who tried to keep a leash on me know any of this? You would have only given more tests, and I've HAD ENOUGH OF TESTS!" he suddenly screamed, startling the brain bot. He panted heavily before holding his hand sup in a calming motion. "Sorry. Sorry. I just get so _damn angry_ when I think about my childhood..."

"It wasn't my fault!" Estella cried, voice shaking as tears began to run down her face. "I, I didn't put you in there!"

"No but you took such delight in talking to me, in studying my actions didn't you? Nobody else had psyche tested an alien before! What an honor! What does he know? What could he learn? Well he learned a whole damn lot. Yet I've never learned how to let go of the past. How to forgive. How to forget." Six took another few steps towards her, reached up, and grabbed her chin in his hands and lifted it as he inspected her face. "...you're much older then I remember. Who wants to live forever, am I right?"

"P-please... please..." she sobbed, feeling her knees buckling as her heart raced within her chest.

"Begging for mercy? How quaint. I'm sorry, Lens. That isn't going to work."

Three days later police came to Estella Longhorn's apartment after reports of her not showing up to work, or answering her phone. What they found her body in the bathroom. Her wrists here slit, and the words 'I'm sorry' was written in her blood on the bathroom wall. There was no suicide note, but honestly... was there any reason to look for one? Her financial records showed how she was drowning in debt, and she was known to have no friends or family here in the country. A death was mentioned on page fifteen of the Metro City Newspaper and she was buried in the cemetery.

Only one person attended the ceremony, besides the priest. It was a young man with a black goatee, and black hair done in a neat little style. He wore all black, as was customary, and had sat towards the back of the empty rows of seats. The man did not cry. When asked how he knew Estella he had replied with something along the lines of knowing her from long ago. Then he was gone, and the priest didn't even recall seeing him leave the grounds at all.

Six climbed into his invisible car, and slumped back against the upholstery. Lifting a hand he twisted the face of the wrist watch he wore, the human being projected vanished and was replaced by the blue skinned, large headed alien. His hands then gripped the wheels but he made no attempt to drive away just yet.

He was glad she was dead. He was _glad_ he had witnessed the life leaking out of her in that bathroom, illuminated only by his first brain bots light. Six heard her whimpering pleas and begs for forgiveness slip into silence and only once her heart had stopped had he forgiven her. Searching in his glove compartment he pulled out a list and looked at the names as he grabbed a pen. He scratched out the name Estella Longhorn and quickly scanned over the remaining names. Many of them names belonging to the doctors who had taken such delight in extracting fluids from his body, exposing his growing skin to chemicals and vials, the skin graphs... the time they broke his leg just to see how long it would take to heal properly.

He took a shuddering breath, the paper in his hand crinkling.

"They deserve it, Sir." Minion's voice made his eyes fall open. "All your life they tested and studied and never let you go. You never knew a jungle gym, or sleeping in, or anything children should experience... they all earned this, Sir. Ever since the day they took you in."

"I know." Six replied quietly as he put the car in neutral and began to quietly drive through the cemetery. "And Minion?"

"Yes Sir?" the fish asked.

"I'm not Six anymore." he said as he exited the cemetery, and sped up as to avoid the traffic that drove around him, totally oblivious to the high standard piece of machinery driving between them. It had taken him weeks to learn how to maneuver an invisible car, but now he wondered just how he had managed beforehand without it. "That was their name for me. I refuse to answer to that name."

"What shall they call you, Sir? When you run havoc through the streets, when people beg you for their forgiveness?" the fish asked.

"Megamind." the alien breathed, turning his head to look at his fish and smiled. "I figured it was a pretty good name... the kind of name that could be screamed, gasped, whispered, all with equal effectiveness. Plus it describes me pretty well, wouldn't you say?" he asked.

"Yes, Sir."

"They'll all answer to Megamind eventually. _All_ of them." Megamind growled as he drove further into the heart of the city in which he would rein, who he would teach the harshest lessons to. How he loathed them all, the people around him. How happy their lives had been, growing up in stable, normal environments. They dare complain about their hand outs in life with him in the world? They knew nothing of true suffering, nothing of thinking your whole world was just a white room where everyone came to you. Unable to witness a sunrise until he was fourteen years old...! Just what kind of sick, twisted race would do that to a child?

He was just arriving home, the sun already beginning to set, when something caught the corner of his eye. Was that a mugging happening? In _his_ area? Parking the car, Megamind looked out the window as he watched what was going down.

A man, at least it looked like a man, was standing over a woman. He was wearing purple gloves, and his outfit could only be compared to that of a pimp with little to no taste. Zebra striped trim to the jacket and wrists, the material was a harsh purple color. A wide brimmed hat with a feather sat atop his head, face hidden. But, it seemed, instead of using a gun he was using something else. A mist? The woman was handing over her purse, and from the looks on her face she was delirious. Laughing, the man took her money and as he turned his back she fled, tripping a food few times.

Megamind was out of the car seconds later, approaching the man, not even activating his disguise.

"What are you doing?" he barked the order, to which the taller man turned his head to look at him.

His skin was incredibly tight against his face, one would swear they were looking at a skeleton. But his face wasn't a peachy pink fleshy color Megamind had learned to see on most people. It was purple. On his nose sat large sunglasses, and in his other hand was a walking stick though Megamind doubted he needed it. The criminal looked surprised, and startled, naturally when you saw a thin, blue headed alien wearing black skin tight leather. "Whoa brother!" he declared, stepping back. "What kinda trip did you fall out of?"

"I am no trip and I did no falling." Megamind replied snappily, and when he saw that the criminal was actually beginning to fade he held up his hand, and grabbed him but not with his hand.

"Hey man let up!" the man tried to free himself of a grip he didn't see, but found himself incapable of doing so.

"What is your name?" Megamind asked, stalking forward.

"Psycho. Psycho Delic." he replied, attempting to keep a cool persona but Megamind could see and all but smell the fear wafting off the man.

"Psycho Delic. I am Megamind and this is _my_ area." the alien hissed quietly. "I find you loitering around my place again, and I'll crush your brain so fast you won't know what happened." he threatened, "Last thing I need is somebody like you drawing attention to me! If I ever see you around here again..."

Now, Psycho Delic's abilities had been gifted to him in a freak accident back when he was working at the chemical plant. The young hipster had fallen into a vat of chemicals being mass produced for a new drug, and when he had finally been pulled out of it his skin had turned a ghastly purple color. Not only that, but he had been gifted with the ability to not only become smoke himself, but to disperse a smoke which brought on hallucinations in those people around him. This had introduced him to a life of crime, naturally, and taking on the name of Psycho Delic.

He had never been challenged before, and it angered him. But at the same time, this blue dude with the big head, had him in his grip somehow. With a head that big, he must have all types of powers that Psycho Delic lacked. And he believed him that he could crush his brain, since if he could hold onto smoke so easily brain crushing would be nothing to him.

"All right blue dude all right," Psycho Delic replied finally. "I'll keep offa yer turf but answer a question?" he asked.

"Ugh. What." Megamind groaned.

"Why's your head so big?"

Next thing Psycho Delic knew he was flying through the air at speeds he thought unimaginable. Luckily, seconds before he landed (which no doubt would have broken his legs, spine, arms, and cracked his head open) he turned into a gas and rearranged himself on his feet. Adjusting his jacket and hat, he snorted. "Touchy." he said, before walking off into the darkness of the night which continued to spread around them.

"Of all the insolent, drug addled... RAGH. Who ASKS things like that?" Megamind growled angrily as he entered the observatory, grabbing a wrench and hurled it across the room in anger. Naturally, the Brain Bots raced after it and fought over who would get to return it to daddy.

"Sir, please calm down. It's nothing to get upset over!" Minion soothed, swimming around his masters head. "He's just a drugged idiot who knows little to nothing else!"

Megamind snarled and sank into his chair and rubbed his massive forehead. If _that_ was the type of criminal that Metro City had been facing, they deserved a grander breed of villain. No longer would men with purple skin and smoke powers be the worst they could run into in the middle of the night. Everyone would know, and fear, _his_name...

"Minion, take note." Megamind said as he spun in his chair and overlooked his domain, the brain bots who weren't obsessed with the wrench were working on the large robot suits. Behind him, angler and piranhas, were nibbling on the remains of dead fish. Far above him the telescope continued to scan the skies, seeking for anomalies in the universe, seeking black holes. Still he hoped on finding his quadrant, to at least lay his eyes on where he had originated from. "We need to put up security cameras around our hide out and in the blocks surrounding it. I want to see if anyone else dare cause trouble on my 'turf'."

"Yes, Sir!" Minion replied cheerily.

"Plus have a brain bot steal a newspaper from now on, every morning. I want to see just what is making headlines. Besides myself." Megamind smiled to himself as he sat back in his chair, and allowed himself a moment of rest and relaxation. It had been a busy day, after all, and he still had so much to do to those people on the list, and the city in general.

"Won't know what hit them." he whispered to himself, before allowing his eyes to slip shut. "Not at all."

_To be continued_


	7. Chapter 7

Metro City's crime spree seemed unending for a few months. Robberies continued, muggings were growing in number and the number of deaths and suicides were filling the obituaries in the newspapers unlike anything seen before. Roxanne scanned the names, spotting just how young some of the people dying were. A fair few of them had PhD or other related doctrine tags to their names, and she couldn't help but wonder if other people were picking up on these connections.

A scrapbook she had been keeping of recent criminal activity was bulging, and soon it had clips of the dead scientists. She made a list out of their names, and checked over them. This would mean a trip to the library, where she could do further research. Like any smart young woman Roxanne knew to avoid the Eastern side of downtown now a days, it had become far too dangerous. That was the place where a group known as the Doom Syndicate tended to roam, run by a trio of no-gooders. There was Hot Flash, an older woman whose hair seemed to be pink flames with the added ability of controlling flames at will. Along with her was Psycho Dilec who used strange gas to send people into hallucinogenic raves and either rob them blind, or send the crazed people into the streets to make fools of themselves or ultimately hurt themselves. Last but not least was the Destruction Worker who was just a souped up, glorified bully with Destruction gear attached to him. But he also seemed to have more strength then the average human being and rumour said he had sawed off his own left hand in order to attach a bandsaw as a hand to his stump.

Either way, these guys meant business and it was easier to just avoid them then try to cut through 'their place'.

The Metro City Library was always a safe haven for Roxanne from the complicated world of high school and teenage hormones so she had a fairly good knowledge of where to look for particular genres in the book world. She reached the medical section and moved on past the dictionaries and specified studies of deadly diseases, and soon found familiar names popping up on spines. It seemed as though the doctors who had recently passed away had studied biology pretty hard, especially in the field of the immune system and what untapped resources the human brain offered.

While the intrepid journalism-intern continued to delve deeper into the deaths of scientists, a blue young man held a list holding all of the names that Roxanne was looking into and then drew a line through the second to last name on the list.

Years Later

The exact same names were written on another persons list. Only these ones were scribbled through with thin black pen, save for two at the very bottom of the list. A black leather glove slowly brought the same black pen, and drew a thin line through the second from the bottom only leaving one single name. Bright green eyes lifted from the list to a man hanging from the ceiling. Another seamlessly completed suicide scene, he couldn't help but feel impressed at how well he was getting at them. He turned and looked up at the dead man, and smiled softly.

"Well, I hate to kill and run but I've got things to do." Megamind informed the corpse before activating his watch. Blue skin was replaced with a dark tan, he had chosen the appearance of the doctor's gardener in order to get off the grounds without being recognized. He shuffle-walked from the house and out through the back gate to where his invisible car was waiting. Only once he was in his car did he turn the disguise off, and shuddered a sigh. "You know there's nothing quite like the thrill I get after doing away with a person who caused grievous bodily and mental harm all throughout the childhood." he announced.

Besides him in the passenger seat was a robotic body. It was close to that of a gorilla, with strong arms, faux fur, and metallic hands and feet shaped like that of the animal. Its head however, was a clear dome that appeared (to other people) to have nothing inside. To Megamind though, he saw Minion, forever floating in the dome. "That's all but one, now Sir." he said.

"Yes, all but one..." Megaminds gaze turned to the last name on the list. Looking over his partly completed list gave him an accomplished, proud feeling in his chest. There were the men who had pained him the most, with their needles, probes, and cold hands. He had experienced nightmares for years because of their actions and seeing his fear reflected in their eyes as they realized who he was made him so, ridiculously happy. He was almost sad to see he had one left, where would he get such joy from now? It almost seemed pointless.

Almost.

He started up the car and jolted at just how loud the volume was. Man, did he always have it that loud when on this radio station or what? Commercials were always way louder than the actual music, which was pretty ridiculous. Megamind reached for the volume when the blare of the news caught him off guard again. Grasping his ears, he almost missed what was being proclaimed.

"-in a daring raid of the bank, the criminals got more than they bargained for when a young man foiled them in the streets! They were beaten, and tied up against a give way sign and left for the arrival of police. The young man didn't even wait for the police himself, and took off before anybody had a chance to stop him. So the identity of this young hero is, at the moment, a mystery to everyone."

"Young hero?" Megamind asked, sitting up more in his chair, his full attention now on the radio but she changed her topic entirely and was now talking about the weather. Megamind turned to Minion, turning down the volume as he did. "A hero Minion. A hero, in this city?"

"Well it is possible sir. As long as evil is around, good will be there to challenge it. After all Sir, what good is it being a bad guy with no good guy to fight?" the fish asked.

"Ah Minion, you are wise beyond your bowl." the blue alien smiled, and patted the glass orb before he began driving away from the suburban area back towards the city. "I want to see more of this 'hero' and find out just who he is."

"But the lady told us he left before anyone could really speak to him, or see him." Minion pointed out.

"That's true, that's true, but let's wait and see what happens. Nobody can deny the spotlight for too long, after all. We'll see, Minion. We shall see." Megamind smiled almost too cheerfully at the prospect of having a hero to fight against, and headed back towards the observatory and his faithful brain bots and baby fish.

The cloning had gone just as planned, but despite his age accelerators within the fish they were still taking their time reaching an age where they could control a robotic body. From his calculations, it would take them another year for them to get to the right age mentally to control the machines. That was suitable for him, it meant he had six years to plot and plan and gain an iron fist in which to hold the city in. Naturally though, with the arrival of a hero might mean a wrench in the works. But Megamind had always liked wrenches and their ability to do either good, or bad. Good as in fixing things, bad as in smashing someone's skull open. This hero might keep him occupied until he could unleash upon the world his robots and fish, since after all everyone needed a hobby.

The observatory had by now well transformed itself into a laboratory. All along the entranceway's wall were tanks filled of water. A homemade, spiked, filter was attached and cleaned the water as glowing fish of numerous colors floated through the water. They looked similar to Minion, but at the same time they had their own shapes as well as eye colors. They all swam to one side of the tank as Megamind arrived home and made gurgle noises through the water, having yet to receive their translator antennas like Minion did.

"Hello babies," Megamind greeted as he pressed his hands against the glass. "how are you all, are you hungry? Yes you're hungry aren't you, yes you are."

Minion watched as his master sprinkled fish food into the tank, and the little fish all hurried to the surface to eat as much of the food as they could get before their siblings got to it first. Lumbering over to the television remote he picked it up and turned it onto the news channel that, naturally, was showing the scenes of the robbery that had been foiled. It showed the three men, de-masked, being led away by cops while others loitered around the give way sign.

"-commissioner Henry Low here with us. Commissioner, what are your views on the public taking actions into their own hands?" asked the reporter to the commissioner, who was standing in a way that meant he was important and he wanted those around him to know it.

"While we appreciate the effort that went into this, I must voice my opinion that we do not condone citizens to take the law into their own hands. We urge the one responsible for this to not take this lightly. You may have gotten away this time but the next, you might not be so lucky." Henry Low said into the camera. "The police will handle the situation."

"Commissioner Low, you are aware of the city's disapproval of the recent gang related violence aren't you? Robberies and break ins are at an all time high. Don't you think it's time this city got a hero?" asked the reporter before shoving the microphone into the tall man's face.

He frowned, glaring at her and then the camera. "This city does have heroes. The police out on the street, the men and women who put their lives on the line to keep you safe and protect the streets. I repeat, vigilantes are not wanted here."

"Oh it's so pathetic I could cry." Megamind said as he walked up to stand besides Minion. "Look at them, so concerned about people taking the law into their own hands. And honestly, they think it's a crime spree now a days? Just wait until they get a load of me!" he laughed.

"But Sir, shouldn't we be worried? This hero took down three armed men, and they look like the big butch type!" Minion said, looking over the video footage of the men being shoved into police paddy wagons.

"Please. With the right training anybody could defend themselves against advisories larger and older than them. You know, the whole using their own strength against them. Even I could do that. But I won't. Because it's a waste of energy and time." Megamind crossed his arms over his chest and snorted.

"Sir, I've been meaning to ask. Are you growing a beard?" Minion asked, "It's just you haven't been shaving lately and you're getting kind of fuzzy around the chin. I thought you had just run out of razors..."

Megamind blinked, then smiled faintly. "Why yes. I am." he smoothed his hand over his growing beard. "I was thinking of growing one like my fathers... maybe a little more pointy you get what I'm saying?" he gestured to his beard that by now was just a little bushy but still close to his jaw. "Like, right here."

"Ooh I see Sir. Very stylish." Minion complimented. "You'll be the top of the most stylish villains list in my book, Sir."

"Aren't I already?"

"Of course!"

Roxanne groaned as she dropped down into her chair and pushed her shoes off of her feet. Despite them being her favourite pair they had still caused serious sores on her feet today from running around all over the city. Naturally, the media was in a up roar over the appearance of a hero who had decided to take the law into his own hands. In her opinion, it was about damn time. Crime was gripping the city so badly it had been compared to Chicago in the times of Al Capone and honestly, she could see the resemblance. After dark it was almost considered suicide to walk the streets unless you were either armed, or in a group.

She herself had been mugged more times then she would care to count, but had never been hurt. Roxanne was smart enough to throw her purse away from her when the assailant would ask for it, since majority of the time they were more interested in her money then she as a person.

"Man what a day am I right?" Hal, her camera man asked as he set his video camera down on her desk carefully not wanting to destroy either the expensive equipment or her desk. "So what do you think, 'bout this hero guy running around?"

"I think it's about time." she admitted truthfully as she grabbed a comb and began to brush the knots out of her long hair. "The police have no control over this city, so it's about time that somebody do something..."

"I think it's a little crazy." the red haired man admitted, lifting a hand and scratching at the back of his head. "I mean what if he gets killed? Another win for the bad guys am I right?"

Roxanne grunted as she tugged at a particularly bad knot in her hair before continuing. "You got to stop being so negative Hal. This whole city's been negative for too long, and already people are ready to run the only positive thing into the ground before it's truly had a chance to make a change to things."

Hal shrugged his shoulders loosely before opening the video camera and took out the memory chip for everything they had done that day. Roxanne had ran around the city interviewing police, criminals on the street, and ordinary citizens to learn their opinions on the unknown hero running around town. Many appeared to be in favor of him, at least those who weren't police or criminals. Who would want a guy ruining their plans, or their jobs? Not many, that was for sure.

"Being realistic doesn't mean I'm being negative..." he mumbled as he left the room to deliver the footage to the editorial room.

Her comb getting caught in her hair again, Roxanne gave a frustrated grunt and ripped it out. The comb took a good few chunks of her hair with it, to which she screamed in alarm.

"That's it, I'm getting a haircut!" she screamed and hurled the comb against the room but with so much force it flew right through the open door out into the hallway.

"Woah careful!" said a voice and in walked the last person she expected to find in the office.

Wayne Scott was well known throughout Metro City. Not only was he a millionaire play boy in charge of a company that brought in millions by the year, but he was also incredibly handsome. Today he was wearing a tan brown suit with black tie and white shirt, and looked incredibly fetching standing there in the doorway despite holding her comb which was matted in hair.

"Oh! Oh my gosh I'm sorry!" Roxanne got up from her desk and hurried around to him, taking the comb off of him.

"Hey it's all right. Casual day, is it?" he asked as he glanced down at her bared feet.

"...no, no. Long day. Sore feet. You know how it is." she replied then mentally scolded herself. How could he know what it was like? He was in an office all day long! "So you're here for that article on the expansion of the Scott Foundation?"

"That I am." Wayne nodded his head before backing out of her office. "Speaking of I'd hate to keep the big guy waiting."

"I still don't see why you didn't let him go to you, I mean... you are Wayne Scott after all." Roxanne pointed out.

Wayne laughed and shook his head. "I still like to appreciate the 'little people' as most would refer to you people as. I don't see anything little about any of you though. Besides, can't live in my gildered palace all my life now, can I? Just not healthy. Catch you later, Roxanne." with that he waved, and walked out of her office.

Roxanne stood there after he left, before snorting and putting a hand to her forhead. "God get a hold of yourself Roxy. You've run into men like him every damn day..." she muttered before going back to her desk, and putting her shoes back on.

As the days passed, more and more incidents of the unknown hero were happening practically every other days. Robberies were being foiled, gangs broken up, and bad guys literally delivered to the front of police stations with notes reading 'Please Deliver to Commissioner Low' with a simple 'M' for a signature. This automatically got the attention of the whole city, finally they had a letter to reprsent the new hero! Was the M for Metro City? Was he the embodiment of justice and law in a city which had fallen by the way side so far?

Either way, this man known as M was getting around. He even had the Doom Syndicate running scarred, which was a great relief to the people of downtown. The three ring leaders, Hot Flash, Psycho Delic and the Destruction Worker along with their goons had fled underground (almost literally) to avoid the pummeling fists of M.

"I don't know what's the world coming to?" Hot Flash asked as she fussed with her nails, shaping them easily.

"A year back nobody dare mess with us like this." the Destruction Worker grumbled as he polished the circular saw he had for a hand. "Now people are walkin' the streets like they own it!"

"Yeah man it's a real let down." Psycho Delic muttered as he played absently with the feather of his hat that sat in his lap. "Can't even mug a fella without thinkin' that M brother's gonna lay a beat down."

"So whaddya think we should do?" Destruction Worker asked, looking to his allies. They had been running downtown like it was theirs for years, and loosing it over a couple of months was a real let down for all of them. Even their goons had been turning in their digs and returning to a normal, average life.

That normally ended with Hot Flash burning their homes down, with or without their ex-goons inside.

Hot Flash shrugged before blowing on her nails.

Psycho Delic was silent for a moment before a memory came to him. Several years ago he had happened upon that big headed blue kid in the leather and straps. He had all but ordered Psycho off of 'his turf' yet he had no recollection of the blue kid ever appearing on the news or anything. Was he a sleeper villain? Was he plotting things, and was preparing for an all out attack on the city?

"Hey yo, wait up gang. I don't think we been beaten just yet." he said, pulling his hat onto his bald purple head.

"Oh? Do tell us your ideal Psycho less it involves more drugs and more 'vegging out'" Hot Flash snorted as she put her nail file down and gave the purple skinned man some attention.

"Years back I'm hangin' round the old observatory. Ya'll know the spot right?" Psycho asked.

"I did the foundation on that place." Destruction Worker said wistfully.

"I know of it." Hot Flash replied, not that she had ever been near the place. Studying the skies weren't in her best interest, unless it was her hororscope in the daily newspaper.

"Well, way back I ran into a little dude who'd called dibs on the joint. Was real strange lookin' too. Head big like a blueberry 'n the skin to match. Said it was his 'n to not go messin' round on it." Psycho Delic explained, gesturing to his shoulder pads as if trying to display the spiked display that the alien had worn.

"Blue?" Hot Flash asked, raising a perfectly plucked eyebrow.

"Yeah blue! Blue like the sky man. All decked out in black 'n leather." Psycho said.

"Then how comes we ain't never heard of him?" asked Destruction Worker.

Psycho shrugged. "Maybe he's still planning? He ain't been bothered cuz he's layin' low. He might know more 'bout what's goin' on than the rest of us combined. If that big ole' head of his was any sign he's like Einstein and Tesla combined."

"Who's Tesla?" Destruction Worker asked.

"Some virgin who made a bunch of stuff." Hot Flash replied.

"Oh."

"So, Psycho darling, how do we find this guy?" Hot Flash asked, crossing her legs.

"Easy. Cause trouble 'round his joint. If that don't call him out he's either left, or dead." Psycho replied as he got up out of his chair and pulled his big purple jacket off from where he'd hung it by the door way and pulled it on.

"We'll have to be careful." Hot Flash said as she got out of her chair and smoothed out her costume. "Or else that M will have us plastered all over the news again."

"It'll be easy as pie, sugar. Don't you worry." Psycho assured her as he pulled the door open. "We'll find this blue boy one way or another."

_To be continued_


	8. Chapter 8

The interior of the observatory had undergone even further changes. The floor of the lobby was now gone completely, and it seemed as though through years of digging and construction Megamind had emptied out the very mountain beneath which the observatory sat. There were steel structures, all made from stolen train tracks and scrap yards. There were now levels going all the way down into the earth where if one got lucky to look they would see a vast array of gadgets.

Most were robots of various sizes. There was also a floor designated to the design and construction of his outfits. Another had hand held weaponry, while another had nothing but boots on display. One of the more important floors had rows of robot bodies sitting stationary, awaiting the day the little fish that would be implanted into them would be operational. Said fish were kept on the very bottom floor in an aquarium that surrounded the floor almost in its entirety; acting like a wall in itself, save for a doorway which leads through to a bathroom. Inside was the glowing fish, now more than half of them fitted with little antennae in their heads.

There was coral and regular fish in there also, fish for looking and fish for eating. Also on this floor besides the bathroom was where Megamind kept his bed. It was a king size, naturally, with a large flat screen suspended on something above and ahead of the bed so when he lay in it he was able to watch the screen. Tonight there he was, laying on his side and sleeping peacefully. The only sound coming from far above was that of the Brain Bots who stayed alert 24/7, keeping watch of the base.

One of them suddenly barked. "Intruder!" it announced one of the rare words the Brain Bots could say, before flying straight down. It went the way of the platform elevator, flying past the multiple floors until it arrived at the bedroom. "Intruder, intruder!" it barked again as it flew around the bed.

"Nnnnggghhhh..." Megaminds eyes slowly opened and he sat up. "Report..." he mumbled as he rubbed the sleep from them.

The Brain Bot flew up to the large television screen and a little chord extended from the base of the robot. It connected to a plug on the television which turned on and revealed what the Brain Bot could see. It was the base of the mountain, and in infrared vision it showed three bodies moving through the gate.

"Night vision." Megamind ordered.

The image upon the screen turned green, and the three figures slowly came into focus.

"Freeze screen!" the alien got up out of his bed revealing his silk pajamas, naturally they were black. He walked forward as the screen showed the three faces of the intruders. He didn't even have to ask to bring up face recognition, because he knew these three. They were on the news frequently, and he had even run into the tall purple one a few years ago. My word, was he still wearing the same outfit? That was a faux pass if ever he saw one. Wrinkling his nose, Megamind set his hands to his hips. "What are they after? Me? Hm." stroking his now fully grown beard in thought he grinned. "Very well. They want to see me, they'll see me."

He leapt out of his bed and grabbed his smokers' jacket and pulled it on, the plush wine red material clashing with his blue skin. "Must make oneself presentable." he smiled before rushing through to the bathroom.

"So you say this guy could grab you, that's it?" Hot Flash asked as she held one finger up which had a tiny flickering pink flame at its tip to illuminate their way.

"Yeah yeah. Nobody ain't been able ta do that before, or since." Psycho Delic said as he followed after her, "He ain't didn't even hafta use his hand. It was all some kinda voodoo thing goin' down."

"I thought voodoo was about dolls and pins." Destruction Worker said as he eyed the trees, wanting nothing more than to rev up his saw hand and cut them down.

"Don't think too hard, you'll give yourself an injury." Hot Flash replied.

The three continued onwards until they came to an ultimate stop. They had no choice, since they had reached where the bridge had given way. It looked truly overgrown now, roots of trees and plant life tumbled over the edge like a waterfall made of green. Hot Flash put her hands to her hips, and glared at Psycho Delic. "Now you know I can't fly you two fatties over there." she said, since her power to fly came from some stolen booster boots she wore. They only just managed to fly her around, much less extra weight in the form of Psycho Delic and the Destruction Worker.

"Oh now that's just a shame!"

The voice startled all three of them, and on instinct Hot Flash's hands erupted into pink flames while Psycho Delic's hallucinogenic smoke began to billow out from his jacket. Destruction Worker simply revved his hand, looking around desperately in a bid to see who had found them.

"And here I thought the Doom Syndicate would be more of a threat to lil' old me." the voice continued before they heard a lurching noise behind them. The three turned, and saw an old gnarled tree slowly begin to open. It wasn't a real tree at all, or if it had once been real it was now very metallic inside. It continued to open until an elevator sat there. "Come in, come in... you came here for a reason, no?" the voice, which seemed to come from the inside of their own heads said.

"'not likin' this." Destruction Worker voiced his fears first; for once uncaring as to whether the other two would make fun of him for it.

"No, I'm not either." Hot Flash admitted, before glaring at Psycho Delic. "This is all your fault."

He frowned at the two of them, before holding his head up high and strutted through to the elevator. After a moment or two Hot Flash and the Destruction Worker followed suit. Only once the three of them were inside did the door slam shut with a loud 'clang' and they got that sinking feeling one normally got when an elevator was moving too fast. Hot Flash put her hand up against a wall to steady herself. "How far down is this thing going?" she asked aloud, though neither man could answer the question.

It finally ground to a slow halt and the doors hissed open. The room ahead of them was simple in appearance; the walls were white, as were the floor and the ceiling. There was a single camera sitting in the far corner ceiling, which seemed to follow movement since it turned straight away to face the elevator door.

"No doors." Hot Flash mumbled, "This is the only way out." she said as the trio slowly stepped outside. As soon as they all exited the elevator the doors slammed shut behind them and they heard it whoosh upwards again.

Destruction Worker eyed the doors, and knew if he wanted to he could use his jack hammer to open the doors but climbing out would be impossible. When they turned back to the room there were four chairs there, and a small round table that definitely hadn't been there before. "Feel like I'm in Alice in Wonderland." Hot Flash muttered, but neither of them walked forward to claim a seat. At least not right away.

"C'mon, c'mon. Gotta be polite?" Psycho asked as he inched towards a seat and sat down. Slowly the other two found a seat each and they sat there, waiting as if waiting on a doctors appointment. A clock on the wall ticked loudly, driving the sound into the ears of those gathered. Hot Flash was seriously considering setting the clock on fire when across from them the wall itself began to fold backwards as if it was made of cardboard.

All three watched as the white wall gave way, and then stared at the darkness that hid behind it. Then the figure which Psycho Delic had spoken of strode forward. He was short, not even 5'5, and his limbs were slim and covered in skin tight black leather. Upon his feet were boots that came up to his feet, and they clinked as he walked due to the straps and metal that hung off of them. On his shoulders were spiked shoulder pads held in place with a clasp reading 'M', the insignia showing up again on the belt he wore. Hanging off of that, was a holster with a strange looking weapon none of them had seen before.

Then there was his head. His brain really was at least twice the size of normal people, and if he turned his head ever so slightly you could see a mass of scar tissue to the back and sides of his head, one permanent dent just above his left temple was quite disturbing. But those eyes, those were what captured them the most. A vibrant, beautiful green that could be beautiful if there was love or happiness to be held within. Instead they were controlled, distant, and watchful.

Folding his arms over his chest, gauntlets spiked as his shoulder blades, Megamind stood there as his cape swished against his body. The wall behind him folded back into place, and the room entered an uncomfortable silence as the four villains stared at one another.

"Wow." Hot Flash finally said. "You really are blue."

"And you're really old." Megamind replied casually, "Now that we've stated the obvious what do you want?" he asked, walking across to the last remaining seat and sat down on it and crossed his legs as he did. "It's not every day people are foolish enough to break onto my land. You must have a reason."

Hot Flash frowned at him and now wanted nothing more then to set the little blue creep on fire.

"Let me guess." Megamind continued, when neither spoke. "The reason why the police are beginning to stand up against you and your little groups. I know why you have your little pow-wows underground, out of sight and out of mind. I even know why you've come to me, now." he paused, then smiled. "M. Am I right?"

Psycho Delic nodded. "He's ruinin' everythin'. This town used to be ours, now he's givin' the folks hope 'n we don't want that! This town is ours!"

"Stop crying like a little brat who had his toy stolen." Megamind snapped, "This town was never yours. It was never anyone's. The second you accept that, the second you're better than the rest."

"So whaddya doin' down here?" Destruction Worker finally asked. "We didn't even know you existed till Psycho said somethin' bout ya."

"And that's how I like it." Megamind hissed quietly. "You think you need your names in the papers and faces on the news to have achieved something?" he asked, looking at all three of them. "My deeds are in the newspaper every other week and nobody even knows who I am."

"What?" Hot Flash blinked in surprise. "What is it you did? Win most grotesque head contest?" she asked.

Megamind looked at her, and decided right there he didn't like this woman at all. She was far too old to be sporting spandex, and it made him feel sick. Then again he didn't like any of these people. Destruction Worker and his glorified bullying, bringing down buildings unless he was paid vast amounts of cash and sundries. Psycho Delic and his drug peddling, getting people hooked on drugs he himself cooked up so he ended up destroying their lives in order to better himself. He had a second thought to just kill them all, but as the old saying went... keep your friends close, but your enemies even closer.

The blue alien smiled sweetly at the woman, and it unnerved her.

"I don't need to specify to you three of my accomplishments. All that matters is that I'm aware of them, and those who matter." Megamind explained before putting his hands together. "Now. While this city may never be in neither of your possessions you, like I, have been victimized in society. Psycho Delic, after your accident no insurance company would touch you. You were fired, not only for what happened but you were merely picking up the drugs nobody else wanted." Psycho Delic blinked in surprise. "Hot Flash, once in the prime of your acting career until the younger, newer models came along. Your husband for twenty years leaves you with only the clothes on your back, the law turned on its head and leaving you with nothing. A happy accident at a bon fire gives you your gifts and you decide to use them, to show society you don't have to be a size three to be known. And Destruction Worker... after all your years in the construction business you're laid off without a word. You loose your job, your livelihood. Somebody has to pay, am I right?"

All three sat there in complete silence, unnerved at the fact this blue person knew so much.

"How do you know this?" Hot Flash finally spoke. "I've never mentioned that weasel to anyone." her voice shook with raw emotion, the flame on her head sparking higher than before.

"It's big for a reason." Megamind replied, pointing to his head. "Now. All of your stories are incredibly sad. Sadder than the last." he said as he got to his feet, hand trailing on the back of it as he walked. "But they all follow a common theme. Abandonment. Being left out, forgotten, and abandoned. This was never about gaining control of the city, this is about destroying everything that matters to those who opposed you!" he turned, cape dramatically moving with him and wrapped itself around his thin frame like a lover.

"This is beginnin' ta feel like therapy." Destruction Worker muttered.

"Maybe it is." Megamind replied calmly. "Accepting what made you who you are is a big step onto becoming a truly great villain. And now, finally, we have a hero worthy of your talents! This M may be the talk of the town for now, but can he be everywhere at once? Could he stop a mass rampage of violence and destruction through the streets? Would he be capable of hiding his face forever, if things got so bad the streets were red with the blood of the innocent?" his expression had began to shift, from calm and controlled his eyes were now wild, excited, and dark. "He will reveal himself. We'll know who he is. Once we know we will destroy EVERYTHING that matters to him to teach him even heroes can be hurt! Even heroes can bleed! Because, heroes still need to breathe. They need everything we do to function. Break something inside him, and it will destroy him."

The three villains had fallen very, very quiet now, slowly taking in what this blue man was saying. He wasn't talking about controlling just one small fraction of the city, he was talking about total destruction. Leveling the whole of Metro City, but why? None of them dare ask why he would want any of this, though the question buzzed wildly in their minds.

Which were open books to the alien. He smiled, his excitement slowly melting into calm. "Why? Why would I be like this?" he asked. "Lady and gentlemen... imagine if you will. A planet. Innocent enough. But death comes for it, a black hole. A couple manages to jettison their new born son out into the universe so he could live, for he was destined for greatness. Now imagine if you will that little baby landing on Earth. What do you think happened?" he asked, leaning forward, gripping the back of his chair as he did.

"He... grew up?" Destruction Worker asked.

"He did. But he grew up in the worst circumstances. See, your government saw it fit to capture this baby. To do experiments on it mentally and physically, only ending up traumatizing him to this… to the point of madness. Does any child deserve this fate? Did it deserve to be broken, probed, bled, and humiliated every day of its life?" he asked.

"I'm going to say no." Hot Flash said slowly.

"You're right. It didn't. So it broke out. It killed. It grew up with such utter hatred of the human race that he would do anything to see the city that caused him the grief he suffered to suffer in his place. I've almost gotten to them all, now. Only one remains. Yes, one on my list. He's been so hard to find, so hard to locate no matter how deep I delve he remains out of my grasp and if I can't find him well I might as well destroy the whole city!" Megamind's voice was rising in tone and pitch, the madness that had been just in the shadows of his psyche slowly rising to the surface. "This city will answer for my mistreatment, and you three are going to be my pawns."

"Hey hey!" Psycho got up, "We ain't never agreed to such a thing!"

"You did the second you came onto my land seeking me!" Megamind shot back. "The second you began looking for me and wanting my help!"

Hot Flash swallowed dryly. The idea of a child once innocent and alien being subjected to the types of things she knew doctors to be capable of in the name of science and research... it made her shudder. Obviously this child was him, Megamind. An alien raised on pain and nothing else, not knew little else of the world. She shuddered. "So tell me, what do we do?" she asked.

Megamind slowly smiled, and clasped his hands together.

Just as planned.

"Put your faith in me." Megamind whispered. "Believe in me, in what I aim to achieve. Bringing M to his knees. The destruction of this city. One last thing... any and all profits you gain from your no-gooding business? I get half."

"What?" all three asked, and Megamind only internally laughed. People were so very much in love with their money, weren't they? As the three began to complain and ask why he deserved all this kind of money he raised his hand and snapped it shut. Instantly all their mouths shut too, not of their accord and he saw the fear on all their faces.

"I'll offer you all goods in return of the money." he explained. "Better weaponry. More power. Strength enhancers. Naturally any task like mine needs money and I don't want to lower myself to the job of robbing banks. I want you guys to get your hands dirty on my behalf. I'm not above killing a man but I am above out right stealing of money. Oh I was such a rebel back then... how I've grown since then..." the alien seemed almost sentimental and nostalgic a moment, then sighed wistfully before turning his attention back to the trio. "So that's my offer. Every week someone will come to your hide out and you will deliver unto them the money you owe me. And no cheating, because I'll know if you're trying to pull a fast one on me. Is this clear for all of you?" he asked, opening his mouth so allowing the three the ability to speak again.

The lure of more power, strength, and weaponry was appealing to the three. Psycho Delic always liked new machinery to help him in the production of his drugs. Hot Flash desired more agility to her flying abilities and Destruction Worker was always after more strength. To have his back to no longer hurt after lugging around all what he did day in, day out, would be a great relief. The three looked at one another, eyes speaking for them.

"So what say you?" Megamind finally asked, moving so he stood in front of the three. "Do you swear your allegiance to me? You'll have to kiss the end of my cape if you do." he added, wanting to have a little bit of fun in all of this.

Hot Flash pulled a face at hearing that, but watched as Psycho Delic reached out slowly and took the smooth material of the alien's cape into his hands.

"I'm with ya." he said before kissing the corners. "How soon do I get my equipment?" Psycho Delic asked straight away.

"Soon." Megamind said. "I already know what kind of business you work in, I myself have dabbled in the production of such material so I already have the equipment ready and waiting."

Hot Flash was next, quickly kissing the cape. Her pink hair flickered, the color playing over Megaminds cape and body as she did. She said nothing, though. Destruction Worker followed suit, going so far as to remove his grubby yellow glove to pick up the cape without dirtying it. Wasn't right to anger the alien straight off the bat now, was there?

Megamind stepped back and smiled at the three of them in a way which would imbed itself in their memories for the rest of their lives. It was the kind of smile one got when they knew there was no escape for anyone now. They had entered into something bigger than all three of them combined.

And the only way out was death.

Minions robotic body waited by the entrance way, and it wasn't an hour after the strange trio had intruded on his masters land when Megamind emerged from his meeting looking incredibly pleased with himself. Normally it took spilt blood and a heart beat stopping for his master to look so proud.

"It went well, Sir?" he asked as he followed along besides him.

"Just as planned." Megamind chuckled. "All three of them are like starving babies, and they've chosen me to feed off of. Poor ignorant fools." he said, shaking his head.

"And what of M, sir?" Minion asked.

"He thinks he can remain shrouded forever? He is about to be sourly mistaken. In fact... I think I already know who he is." the blue alien said as he walked through to his bedroom, beginning to disrobe as he walked. Behind him, Brain Bots hovered, grabbing up the clothing he dropped.

"You do?" Minion asked, "Who, Sir?"

"The same alien who arrived with us." Megamind said as he tugged his gloves off, allowing them to fall to the ground. "The same alien who knocked our pod off course. The same alien who, fate decided, would grow up in a loving, warm, HAPPY environment while I was sent to rot underground."

"But Sir! How did you come across this?" the fish asked as he stepped over the boots Megamind had just kicked off.

"Simple deduction. The fetes he's showing, some are all but impossible. Strength beyond the scope of any human being, and those scorch marks left in wake of a particularly deadly attack... all of it adds up, Minion. It's him. M is the one who set us on the road of death and torture." Megamind reached the bed and began to pull on his pajamas again. "I have a personal score to settle with this man. He has much to answer for. FATE has much to answer for!" he tugged on the bottoms and did up the tie at the waist so they wouldn't fall off, before climbing back onto the bed.

"If you say so, Sir." Minion said as he tucked the blue alien in obediently as he had done for every night since Megamind had acquired this large bed to sleep in. This was a personal achievement for the alien, since growing up in that small white room his bed had been singular, small and narrow. It had taken weeks for the alien to get comfortable with sleeping on a large bed that had room to stretch, and roll over without having his movements constricted by a small, uncomfortable bed. Now he slept easy, and he deserved it after all he had been through.

"I do say so." Megamind replied quietly as he lay there on his bed. "He will pay. Oh, he will pay."

As the blue alien slowly began to fall asleep Minion shuffled his way back to his designated corner of the room and as Megamind fell into that blissful darkness that sleep allowed, the robot suit halted where it stood just like every other night.


	9. Chapter 9

"-this is Roxanne Ritchi, reporting live from City Hall." Roxanne, hair now incredibly shorter than before, said as she signed off from the latest scandal on the news. Word was that the police had a means to contact the mysterious M and the mayor was doing everything in his power to cover up this fact. She sighed after making the 'cut' motion with her hand and allowing her shoulders to finally sag in exhaustion.

Another day, another sore on her feet.

"Another day another dollar, am I right Roxy?" Hal asked after switching off the camera.

"Hmmhmm." she agreed, not really hearing him. A few months ago things seemed like they were beginning to improve in Metro City. M had crooks running and people cheering, yet lately it felt like the tide was turning once more in the bad guys favor.

Despite the influx of new police on the force, crime gangs were rocketing. There were more people being hospitalized due to almost overdoses on drugs that nobody had ever seen before. Jewelry stores were being targeted by Hot Flash's gang, since that woman was always into pretty sparkly things. Meanwhile the Destruction Worker had turned his hand to something very close to terrorism, setting off explosions in buildings without any forewarning. It was all very different to what the trio was normally doing and it alarmed many.

Even M seemed to be having trouble stopping everyone.

After saying goodbye to Hal, Roxanne decided to head back towards her apartment which wasn't too far from where they were filming and if she walked at a brisk enough pace she'd be there in no time. Her heels clicked upon the pavement as she walked, one hand permanently holding onto a mace hidden in her shoulder bag. Though, if she paused to consider, it was a little too light out for anyone to attempt anything.

Now, Roxanne had been on the television working for KPMG 8 for three years now. She had covered any number of things, from small time crooks, to young hoons driving through the city streets at ridiculous speeds, feel good stories, and hard hitting political dramas that tended to grip the city every few years. But one story that had never truly left her were those of the doctors. All of them experts in their fields, the top of their games, yet each and every one of them had either gone missing or found dead in their homes.

Just how gifted, intelligent people could kill themselves was at a loss to her.

If only she knew the reason behind it all had been watching her over the past few months. If only she and the rest of the city knew of the impending doom and that it's centre of evil was the old abandoned observatory that nobody cared for anymore. If only they knew of the robots, and deadly devices, contained within the emptied out hillside the abandoned science research centre was perched on top of. If only Metro City knew of Megaminds existence…

Now, Megamind had never really liked people as a whole before. It was difficult to when your only contact with them was so they could do experiments on him, or conduct tests? Humans had brought on nothing but pain and suffering of the worse degree. He hated them, and wished they would all die long and horrible deaths... and yet, when he watched the way this young woman spoke on the news, voicing not only her views but those of a large number of people, he could not help but feel enraptured by her.

She had large, intelligent, sky blue eyes. The way her brown hair framed her face like a beautiful picture and the fact she had freckles was incredibly interesting. Megamind had believed freckles to be something in possession of 'gingers', people with odd skin pigmentations. Yet here was a perfectly healthy brunette with freckles and sparkling blue eyes.

Being unable to understand why he found her so fascinating to watch, after years of doing nothing but, he decided it time to take action. It would be easier to study the subject up close than through a screen.

Roxanne Ritchi was just beginning to cross the street when she heard the sound of a rumbling engine. Stopping, she turned her head from left to right, looking for the car. There was nothing there. But suddenly a fur covered arm appeared out of nowhere, holding what looked like an air freshener can. Before she could react it had gone off in her face, and the world went black. Her slim figure began to drop to the floor but the same hand grabbed her thin waist, before pulling her into the car.

"Be careful, be CAREFUL." Megamind demanded from the back seat as Minion handed the unconscious woman into the back seat. His master took hold of her as if she were made of China, and positioned her besides him in the car and strapped her in as the fish began to drive again.

She looked so... _something._ He couldn't even touch her, so he remained fixed in his seat on the far side of the car as Minion drove them through the city streets expertly, and soon drove towards the observatory. The gate swung open on command and the sloping drive ahead of them abruptly opened, and the car drove down into the ground as the road slammed shut behind them. The drive way was illuminated by lights hanging above and the car sped around until it came to a stop in an underground car park.

"Be careful with her." Megamind insisted as Minion lifted the unconscious woman from the car, and carried her carefully through the garage. They passed some Brain Bots who flew at the invisible car carrying car wax and little window cleaners with rags to clean the surface.

"Sir if I may be so bold as to ask, why did we do this again?" Minion asked as they rode the elevator up through to the 'entertainment' section of the underground base. It basically had more fish tanks on either side, multiple screens hanging from the ceiling, a crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling as well as a long dining table. Megamind guided Minion to the cushy leather sofa and had him lay the woman onto it.

"Because it's no good examining a specimen from afar, you have to get in close to truly experience them." Megamind said as he knelt besides the sofa, hands gripping the cushion as he looked at her. "How much did you use?"

"Enough to keep her knocked out for an hour, Sir." Minion replied.

Megamind nodded. One hour would do just fine. He waved a hand at Minion, and the fish slowly turned and walked onto the elevator platform and sunk out of sight leaving his master and the woman alone. Once he knew he was alone Megamind continued to watch her with the kind of rapt attention a dog gave somebody who held a treat they wanted.

"What is it about you, Miss Ritchi?" he asked quietly as he sunk into a sitting position on the floor, his cape spreading out behind him as he did so. "Why is it I see you in my dreams, just out of my reach? I have never even spoken with you... nor you I... do not even know of my existence but... if you did..." Megamind trailed off before giving a snort of amusement at his sentimentality. "You're nothing too amazing. That thin mousy hair, those freckles... those... um. Hm." his eyes travelled down her body, pausing momentarily on her chest and then her hips.

The tight feeling in his stomach doubled its strength and he stared, it scared him terribly, so he turned his eyes back to her face. Humans weren't appealing to him at all, normally. He had seen Hot Flash, a woman more than twice his age, in skin tight spandex and fishnets... yet he had felt nothing like that at all. What he felt, when taking in the sight of Roxanne wearing a stylish black shirt with a red dress just made his hearts do funny things he didn't exactly want to understand.

Right? It did no good working out feelings. Feelings could be ultimately be betrayed, and he didn't want to experience that kind of emotional pain. He had already been hurt enough in his life, he should know better and yet... when he looked into this woman's face when she was on the news, when he saw the emotion in those bright blue eyes and how she spoke to eloquently... it almost was like she was the better side of humanity to him. He had only known anger, pain, and torment. She was like a part of it that he had never truly experienced, banned from his life.

So he had grown sick of simply watching on the screen. He wanted to be in her presence so badly he had done this. Gassed her, brought her to his lair and was now staring at her as if he expected her to do something.

Megamind blinked his green eyes slowly before finally lifting a hand. Slowly, apprehensively, acting like a wild animal, he reached forward to touch her face but his hand froze mere millimeters from her face. He withdrew his hand as if he had touched something to hold, and grasped at it. No. It wasn't right of him to touch her without her consent, and yet drugging and kidnapping her was perfectly fine in his mind. He settled against the couch, rested his chin on his arms, and simply watched her.

He practically drank in the sight of her, laying there upon his couch as if she had been invited. Megamind imagined that she had been over for a meal, they had eaten something fancy at his long dining table as the Brain Bots and Minion served up meals. He had made her laugh at something or another, she then had smiled at him in ways he could only dream of. Then, tired from it all, she had retired to his couch and fallen asleep. Being a proper gentleman he wouldn't take advantage of her, despite all she had drank.

It would be improper.

"What kind of spell have you put on me, Miss Ritchi?" he asked her after a good while watching her sleeping face, taking in how her eyelids gently shifted now and then to show she was dreaming. "What have you done that nobody else on this miserable planet could ever dream of doing...?" he slowly stood up, legs sore from having sat so awkwardly for so long. "I hope I find out one day. Minion!" he called suddenly.

The fish was there moments later, gears whirling. "Sir?"

"We're taking her home. If anything she may chalk this all up to some kind of dream." Megamind said as the fish nodded his body before scooping the woman up into his arms.

"Yes, Sir." Minion said and the two left the base, returned to the car and sped off into the night to deposit the woman before she would wake up and find herself in the presence of a blue headed alien and a ghost fish in a robot suit. Megamind didn't want to cause her any trauma, after all. It would be unfitting to see any haunted looks in those perfect eyes of hers.

They both found her loft to be very up to date and stylish in its simplicity. As Minion puts the lady onto her own couch, Megamind looks at the photographs on the wall. There are a fair few of her with some handsome looking man with jet black hair, but not too many. He sighs, wistful all of a sudden. What would it be like, to have photographs up in his room? Would it make it feel more... normal? But really, did he want to be normal? Never in his life had he ever considered the possibility of appearing normal to anyone, let alone just himself since NOBODY but himself and Minion ever entered his bedroom.

He arched his back to stretch before turning back around and walked over to the sofa, and leaned over the unconscious Roxanne.

"I'll be seeing you again." he whispered before hover patting her head before backing up, and opening up the glass doors and waited for Minion to join him before floating them back down quickly and climbing back into the invisible car. Once in the safety of his car he sighs, and puts his hand to his forehead.

"Are you all right, Sir?" Minion asked quietly from his place in the drivers seat.

"No, not really... just take me home, Minion. Just take me home."

"Yes sir." but before the fish could start the engine Megamind suddenly sat forward, grabbing the robotic shoulder.

"Wait! Look out there!" he said, pointing not to the street before them but above.

Something, some_body_, was flying through the night sky. Megamind watched, quickly climbed his way into the front seat and pressed his hands to the glass. "It's him."

It was M. It had to be M. Megamind hadn't been informed of any new villains taking root in the city, and he knew only Hot Flash held the power of flight because of her boots yet that was definitely not Hot Flash up there. His torso was V shaped, muscles visible from all the way down here, and he had an impressive cape. Megamind watched as the figure vanished, ducking behind a building, before appearing again and going to the doors of the last person Megamind expected.

"What is he _doing_?" Megamind barked all but pushing Minion out of the drivers seat so he could see up at the apartment where the man was now hovering outside of. Fumbling with the glove compartment of the car Megamind pulled out some sleek looking binoculars and held them up. He watched closely as the shadowed man was peering in through the glass doors. "Why would he be..."

"Maybe he is an admirer of Ms. Ritchi too?" Minion asked cautiously.

"No!" Megamind snapped viciously, grinding his teeth against one another.

"Imagine what would have happened if he'd come home to find her not there!" Minion started, "He would have begun a search for her and he might have found our secret hide out!"

Megamind's neck almost snapped, that was how fast he turned his head to glare at the robotic body besides him. His green eyes were narrowed in a warning way, before they quickly softened. "He would come after her if she went missing?" he asked himself. "So if I kidnapped her and made it obvious... he would come right after her! I could spring a trap, and reveal who this M person really is! And then KILL HIM!"

"That wasn't what I was getting at Sir and you know-" Minion started.

"Silence!" Megamind snapped, taking one last look up at Roxanne's loft to find that M had moved on. "Oh ho ho ho... Yes, yes... it's all coming together swimmingly. All the pieces on the chess board... it's going to be beautiful. Absolutely brilliant!" Megamind tossed the binoculars at Minion, started the engine and the car left tire treads embedded in the road as it sped off into the night.

The robot besides him was incredibly still, the soft glow that emanated from the middle of its glass tank flickered a little before Minion spoke again. "So you're basically going to do what you did tonight, only this time bring attention to yourself, Sir?"

The blue alien glared at his counter part. "Very childish way of putting it, Minion, but yes. That's the plan."

"But expose ourselves before we're ready? What if you can't destroy M, what if he really has no weaknesses?" the fish asked.

"Are you trying to talk me out of my plan, Minion?" Megamind asked, eyes back on the road but now driving angrily, swerving in and out of traffic as normal but this time purposely clipping cars and causing small accidents in their wake.

"No Sir, I wouldn't dare." Minion replied sheepishly, "But you've worked so long and so hard on your plan to destroy the city...! Almost everything is in place; do you _really_ want to expose our hide out to him?"

"Stupid fish." the car ran a red light and just missed being barreled into by an eighteen wheeler. "I won't reveal our main base of operations. Why do you think I have those abandoned warehouses under my control? We'll use one of those. Throw a few useless machines around in there, they'll think it's my base and if he DOES, though however unlikely, overpower us and destroys it all it won't mean anything to me. Do you _understand_ now?"

"Yes, I see now Sir." Minion said quietly, putting the binoculars away in the glove compartment. "Sorry I questioned your genius, Sir."

"Oh it's nothing. People seem to do that all the time." Megamind said as the car drove up the drive way towards the observatory for a second time that night.

Minion watched his masters face as it was over shadowed when they entered the base, how those eyes were calculating and plotting something he himself couldn't possibly begin to understand. While he was thankful to see such a spark to Megamind's face, at the same time he felt it was happening for the wrong reasons. They had come such a long way from the white imprisonment all those years ago, but had it truly been for the right reasons?

All but one of the men who had made Megamind's life a living Hell was gone beyond their reach, wiped out as if they were annoying flies at a picnic table. Yet still he saw the yearning, longing, for more vengeance on his master's face. Was his hatred consuming him, bit by bit? He was the secret overlord of criminal activity throughout the city, the Doom Syndicate answered his calls and orders no matter what time of day or night, and his army of fish was growing every day.

The fish began to wonder, though, if the whole city deserved to pay for what had happened to them. Even though his life had been cut incredibly short, he himself an innocent murdered for scientific pursuits, he felt that other innocents didn't deserve to suffer.

He dare not speak this to his master though, who he watched rush across the garage and began to bark orders at the Brain Bots who flew around obeying without question. And now he was going to reveal himself, before everything was ready, so he could... what? Take on this M, who he believed to be the one who caused everything in the first place? What if, heaven forbid, his master was wrong? Or worse, right? Or right about one thing, but wrong about another?

Minion had seen news reports of the fetes achieved by M. Metal twisted in a way to hold prisoners in place, burn holes through material and steel. Brick walls toppled when he would fly through them... could his master, despite his great brain power, over come such a foe?

In a way he hoped so. But at the same time...

"So, we shall capture Roxanne Ritchi but at an integral part of one of those live reports she always does," Megamind was at his work floor, which had plans and notes along with maps and diagrams hanging from above on pieces of string. He grabbed one piece and tugged it closer to his face to look at it. "Then, when she's in the middle of doing her report I'll come in and grab her. Make it a real spectacle; this is after all my first true appearance to the world. I'll announce myself, Megamind! Incredibly handsome criminal genius and master of all Villainy! The puppet master of the Doom Syndicate, the one who holds this city in a death grip of panic and evil! Issue my challenge to Metro Man and away with her before he can arrive. Yes, yes..."

He had his hands pressed up against a map he had of Metro City before flipping over to the one that showed the underground, abandoned, train track sections that he had come across when emptying out the inside of the observatory hill. They had been abandoned after too many cave-ins, and they would help him out to become escape routes when escaping with Roxanne.

"I'll have to find the route which takes me directly to the docks, where all the abandoned warehouses ... have to pick one, a good big one where I can conceal my fighter droids. I also need a means in which to restrain her, rope? No, too cliché. Strapped to a metal operating table...? Oh yes I like that idea... totally at my mercy, that beautiful vixen."

"That what?" Minion asked, eyes widening.

"What? I didn't say anything." Megamind snapped back as he was looking over a list of buildings he could use.

"You just called Miss Ritchi a-"

"MINION." the blue alien turned his head, green eyes flashing. "Can't you see I'm in the middle of planning something big?"

The small glowing fish dimmed in his orb, and the robot sagged forward obediently.

"THANK you. Cha." Megamind rolled his eyes before turning back to his plan, slowly moving together before his eyes and he continued to work long into the night and early morning, getting no sleep at all.

So enwrapped he was in his plan the blue alien failed to notice that Minion's robot body had not moved from where he had fallen silent hours ago. Nor that the friendly, faithful, glow caused by his fish companion had long since gone out, something that normally only happened when Megamind was asleep.

Back in her apartment, Roxanne Ritchi suddenly awoke with a startled gasp, and shakily jumped to her feet with her hands raised in a self defense pose. As her head swam in lazy circles she slowly realized she was home, in her apartment. The tea kettle was whistling gently as the water boiled, and her slippers were upon her feet.

"Whoa... okay, I think you've been working too hard..." she said as she put a hand to her forehead and shut her eyes in hopes of the spinning feeling to stop. She couldn't remember getting home, putting on her kettle or falling asleep on her couch. She knew she had been putting in extra hours at the office but she would never had expected it to get so bad that she had lapses in her memory like this.

Opening her eyes she glanced around her loft, before walking towards the balcony and opened up the glass doors to allow the nice late night breeze drift through her apartment, airing out both it and her head. "That's better." she said to herself before heading into the kitchen to make herself some tea. "Maybe it's time to take some annual leave." she said to herself as she walked into her kitchen, pausing to check in on her pet fish which swam around in a rectangular fish tank. The three little fish peered out at her as the snails she owned slowly continued to clean their way along the pebbles at the base of the tank.

"What do you guys think, you think Mommy needs some time to herself?" she asked. The smallest black one opened its mouth and bobbed at the top of the water, and the other two fish soon followed suite. "I'll take that as a yes." Roxanne laughed before grabbing some fish food to appease the masses before getting back to her tea. "Oh but wait, damn. I have that big interview in a few days time... ugh. I might as well get that over and done with, then take some quiet time." she assured herself as she went to grab a mug to make her tea in before heading to bed for a good night's rest.


	10. Chapter 10

She wasn't at all surprised when her boss gave her an odd look when she handed in her request for leave. When asked why she was taking time off for such a long amount of time, she shrugged, and had told him she had worked hard and had accumulated all of that annual leave so she might as well i_usei_ it before she lost it for good. Roxanne had smiled at him in that sweet little way some women could pull off, and the boss had begrudgingly agreed to allow her the time but only after the big interview with Watson Crane, the mogul who was being suspected of embezzling millions.

"Hey c'mon chief, this is me you're talking about. You think I'd let some big wig like him get away Scott free?" she asked as she set a hand on her hip. "Good luck!"

"That's m'girl, Roxy. Had me worried you were leaving us to pursue something greater." He said as he filed the paperwork away into his 'out' tray, to be handed into human resources so they would know that she hadn't skipped town and had just taken some well earned leave.

Things were going relatively well for Roxanne. All her years of training, studying, and doing over time had carried her from a simple intern at the channel KPMG 8 news station to the lead anchor, who was known for always getting out there on the field, unafraid to get her expensive pumps dirty. She loved the work, the hours, and the people she surrounded herself with. Well, maybe not all of them… her newest cameraman, Hal, was a bit of an… I_interestingi_ kind of guy.

She had the sneaking suspicion that he had a crush on her but was either too shy or socially retarded to do anything about it. Roxanne, not wanting to embarrass or hurt him, simply didn't take any notice of it. If he ever actually asked her out socially, she would be sure to let him know that it was as friends and as nothing else. After all, she already had her eye on somebody even if the chances of scoring him was well and truly infinity against.

Wayne Scott could have any woman he wanted, or woi_meni_, so why would he take notice of a mousy brown haired, blue eyed, big hipped women like her? Sure, they had enjoyed some time together as friends but little to nothing else. Whenever he ended up on the news he always insisted she be the one to interview him, or to be one of the many reporters at the reviews when it came to talks on how well his business and charities were going. It was quite touching really, but she had the feeling that the one man she I_didi_ want to have interest in her simply wasn't looking… at least for any kind of relationship that came with a happy ending involving commitment and a ring. Scott came across as the kind of guy who would sleep with a woman, then unfortunately forget all about her. Not that he was callus, or rude, it was just that he had a family business to run and he couldn't afford himself the luxury of a real, steady relationship.

At least, that's what she told herself. Besides, was she truly ready for a steady relationship? She didn't know.

The weather was perfect, on the day of her big interview on the steps of the legal firm that Watson Crane would be exiting from. What she called an interview was normally known as the dog and the rabbit, she being the dog constantly chasing the white rabbit until she got answers. She wore proper shoe support today, along with a nice little red dress number with a black thin jacket over it since there was a bit of a chill in the air. There was Hal, ready and waiting, outside her apartment block's door and no doubt getting a ticket from that sticker licker for double parking.

Away they went, as Hal shoved the parking ticket into the dirty glove compartment, and Roxanne talked about what kind of angel she was going to try and go when going after Watson. Not too aggressive but not a door mat either. As she expected, Hal agreed with everything she said. While she had anticipated this, being told that her ideas were great was always a boost for her self esteem.

"Ready?" Roxanne asked as she readied the microphone in her hand as Hal shouldered the heavy camera on his right shoulder.

"Ready as ever." He replied with a grin around his chewing gum.

The interview slash chase went surprisingly well. Hal got a few hands to the lens which would no doubt leave smudge prints on the final edited film but that always gave things are more edgy look to them. Roxanne followed him like a pro, asking him questions and holding the microphone out as the massive tower of a man glowered and answered with the usual 'No Comment' as the smaller, weaker men around him talked into mobiles and wore expensive sunglasses.

"That went better than I thought…" Hal, who was considerably out of shape, wheezed as he held onto his knees, forehead hanging forward and sweat dotted his forehead.

"At least he admitted to it being a train ride to Hell!" Roxanne said positively, punching the air with her fist and a big grin.

"Oh yeah, that's… always great…"

Roxanne was about to make a comment about him eating things that weren't deep fried or smothered in chocolate when she caught something out of the corner of her eye. Since they were in the city centre, tall, impressive buildings were on all sides of them. Most of them were reflective, and while she could still see the fair blue sky above her in one of the buildings reflective surfaces she saw thick, black cloud seemingly coming out of nowhere.

"What is… Hal get your camera! Turn it on, turn it on!" Roxanne ordered, waving her hand. "Something's going down!"

"Huh?" Hal obeyed her, confused for a moment until he saw the black clouds. They were spreading like wild fire across the fair blue skies, blocking out the sun and sending the middle of the city into almost pitch blackness. Roxanne turned around on the spot, the hairs on her neck and forearms standing up, feeling that something definitely huge was going to happen.

Was it the Doom Syndicate? When did they have the power to do this? Psycho Delic may have been able to give off fumes of hallucinogenic powers but this was beyond his scope. Maybe it was the Destruction Worker, with a new machine that spewed out black smoke? But it was so high, how could he-

"Roxanne look at that!" Hal shouted, pointing upwards.

High above the city was the source of the black smoke. It looked like a blimp, but it had no means of control. Sticking out of it in odd intervals were long metallic spikes, and from those spikes came the smoke. Roxanne realized the smoke wasn't just forming lazily, it was moving in a shape. It was becoming a crescent mood, surrounding and swallowing up the buildings in its wake as if they were nothing to care about. The way it floated and moved… it was like gravity didn't matter at all.

"Are you getting this?" Roxanne asked.

"I am, I am!" Hal replied shakily, fighting every urge in his body to drop the camera and run.

The urge doubled when lightning bolts suddenly began to rip out of the black clouds, striking at the ground. When they struck the ground, bits of pavement, or cars (whatever the bolts decided to land on) sent skywards in retaliation. Roxanne covered her ears and shut her eyes, the flashes incredibly bright. So bright she was sure she could feel her bare exposed arms being sun burned despite the darkness. The people who had been out on the street were screaming in terror, rushing around in an attempt to avoid the bolts of lightning. Car wheels screeched and Roxanne could hear the crunch of metal against more metal as accidents happened around her.

One car even jumped the side walk and plowed into a fire hydrant, sending water gushing upwards into the sky.

No, this was definitely not the Doom Syndicate.

Then, when it felt like things couldn't get any more strange, or dangerous, something else came out of the black fog. They were small hovering robots, from the looks of them. All of them gave off an eerie blue glow, held red singular metal eyes that blinked rapidly, and large bear-trap like maws that hung wide open… obviously hungry. They barked, or made a noise similar to barking, and began chasing the people around them. It was like watching a bunch of dogs heard frightened sheep, they swooped and swerved, barking continuously at the terrified people.

Roxanne quickly noticed that they were herding people away from herself and Hal. That sinking feeling in her stomach became as heavy as lead and she began to slowly back away from Hal. Just as she was beginning to turn two of the floating robots leapt up in front of her. She screamed and backed up, before falling over backwards. Hal then swung the only thing he had on hand at the floating monsters, his camera, and sent both of the machines flying. They crashed to the ground, the domes of their heads smashing open and their death screams shattered nearby glass as tiny arcs of power erupted from their cracked glass.

The first thing to flash through Roxanne's head was "Oh my God he broke the camera!" before she realized he had, most probably, just saved her from something. She opened her mouth to thank him when a high pitched roaring noise ripped through the air. Any and all glass it came in contact with erupted with a force so powerful it sent shards of glass flying, then falling, to the streets below. Roxanne and Hal both got down and covered their heads, in a vain attempt at shielding themselves from being ripped to ribbons but they didn't have to bother.

It was like there was an invisible shield above them, and as the glass struck that shield it bounced off and landed innocently on the ground around them. Shaking, Roxanne slowly lifted her gaze and looked skywards.

What she saw hovering in the ground just above her was the last thing she ever expected to see.

He looked human enough, but the imagery was shattered when she realized his skin was sky blue. His eyes, a beautiful green, were staring straight at her. His skull was larger than any she had ever seen before, round and bulbous but she could see obvious scarring above one of his temples. His outfit was like a mash between KISS, Ozzy Osborne, and Alice Cooper. It was all black, skin tight, possibly a mesh of both leather and spandex. Upon his feet were the biggest heeled boots she had ever seen a man wear (outside of the Goths she saw hanging around the city), they had spiked front steel toes, straps covering the laces, and stopped just beneath his knees.

His gloves were just as spiked, silver plating over the knuckles and ran their way up his forearms stopping short of his elbows. Beneath his gloves was the skin tight spandex, hugging closely to his almost sickly thin frame. He had obvious muscles but in that black clothing, being that tight, he looked like he needed a good feed. Upon his shoulders were the kind of shoulder pads Alice Cooper would be proud of, with sharp, metallic spikes jutting out of them that were at least ten inches tall in some places. To top it all off, he wore a cape, black as nightmares that billowed out behind and above him.

Roxanne's mind raced. Who could this be? Could this be M? No, this couldn't be M. M was the vision the city had of a hero, a man who stood up to people like this… if this was even a person to begin with. She had a strong, sneaking suspicion, that he wasn't.

"Who the Hell are you?" Hal voiced everyone's thoughts at the floating blue man. "What do you think you're doing?" he asked.

Those green cold eyes turned their attention from Roxanne to the red haired man besides her. A second later, Hal had appeared to be punched by an invisible foe since he went flying and landed on the pavement with a startled, pained grunt.

"Hal!" Roxanne shouted and made to run to him but found herself incapable. She could feel hands on her, holding her still, and yet she saw nobody around her. Her had snapped back and she stared at the blue man again, her blue eyes narrowed in anger. "Who are you?" she asked finally, fighting to ignore the shaking in her voice and falling miserably short.

"Me?" the blue skinned man asked, as if he had been pointed at while surrounded by people in a crowd.

"Yes you! Why are you doing this, are you with the Doom Syndicate? Who are you?" she asked, the timbre in her voice becoming firmer the more questions she asked. Asking questions always helped. It stalled for time, it bought information.

He suddenly erupted into a laugh that sent chills down her back. His laugh was hollow and empty, and echoed of pain effortlessly. But he stopped just as quickly as he started and came down, so he landed on the ground ahead of her. Taking a step towards her, his boots crunched the glass underfoot, and set a hand to his chest. "I I_ami_the Doom Syndicate. I am the evil that has gripped this city like a tumor growing on human tissue. I am the one who has watched you from the darkness. I am IM_egamind_."i

"Megamind?" she echoed the name, and tried in vain to recollect if she had ever heard the name again. It wasn't a name she had ever come across and already her mind was racing, and she had a job for knowing names of bad guys. And what did he mean by i_beingi_ the Doom Syndicate? How did that make any sense?

"I see you have many questions, my dear." Megamind said sweetly, but in a way that was any way but sweet. "Don't worry. You'll have plenty of time to ask them. But if I'm in the mood for answering them, you'll have to wait and see."

Roxanne began to argue when she suddenly felt herself leave the ground. Oh my God, she was floating. How was that possible? Was he doing that? He had a huge brain, who's to say that he wasn't capable of doing things that human brains couldn't? Despite it, she struggled, as if trying to free herself from invisible bondage but found it impossible. The blue Megamind moved closer to her as they continued to move skywards, and leaned in so close she could feel his breath against her cheek.

"I have dreamed of this day. And it is every piece as glorious as I imagined." He whispered before he pulled back and burst into more of that spine chilling laughter that seemed to echo in the black fog that they were vanishing into. Roxanne shuddered, and shut her eyes tightly as the cold enveloped her. She just prayed that M would show up, loathe as she was to be helpless like a new born kitten even she knew that she couldn't distract this guy with a purse.

"Attention Metrocity!"

The voice spontaneously exploded over every mobile, iPod, iPad, radio station, television, and internet broadcast in the city. It startled many people, and while they attempted to either fix their machines or stare in horror at them, the voice continued.

"Please, don't bother attempting to adjust your station or press 'next' on the little electronic doo-dad you may be holding in your sweaty palms. This is the voice of Megamind. I have managed to tap into every electronic wave and resource this miserable city has to offer and let me tell you it was like tying my laces. You security drones need to work on your defenses more and less time on how sparkly and shiny you can make things look. You make the electronics genius in me SICK. Anyway, back to the task at hand. I am looking for M. You all know who I'm talking about. The mysterious goody two shoes who has been flying around bothering my boys and girl in all their wrong doing. I'm calling you out, M. And just in case you get cold feet, and decide to turn tail and run, I have in my possession one Roxanne Ritchi. If I do not hear from you in the next hour… well. Let's just say it's not going to be pretty. Not one bit. So, just to summarize, I am Megamind, you all make me sick, come and find us, M, and I've got Roxanne Ritchi."

And then there was silence.

Megamind sat back in his leather chair, and the Brain Bot which had held the microphone for him obediently flew away. Taking a deep breath, he held up an empty glass and another Brain Bot, this one carrying a bottle of something, poured the clear liquid into the glass before, it too, flew away.

"Well I must say so far this has been a very eventful day." Megamind said cheerily to himself before turning in his large leather chair to face the woman who was presently strapped down on a metallic, spiked, operation table. He watched as she attempted to break free of the restraints, but found herself incapable of doing so. Watching this gave him that burning feeling at the pit of his stomach again, and he wanted to go over and touch her face, to whisper that it would be all right and she'll be fine. But this side of him lost out to the stronger half of him, who kept him rooted to his seat.

"Eventful?" Roxanne asked, eyes narrowed at the blue man. "You call this eventful!"

"For my first foray into this kind of thing, so far I'm feeling pretty good about myself." He admitted as he slowly got to his feet.

"Why are you doing this, what are you trying to prove?" she demanded, fists clenching as he approached her. Oh God. Was he going to touch her? Was he going to…

"This city needs to burn." Megamind whispered in her ear once he was close enough. "This city, is a disease… and I am the cure. Too long have I lay hidden beneath the surface, pulling puppet strings and keeping my hide safe. It's time to act, and act I shall."

"Sir, please!" Minion pleaded, as he lumbered into the room. Roxanne's eyes widened even more when she saw the robotic monstrosity, and looked back to Megamind as the fish spoke. "You don't have to do this, it's too soon, and it's too dangerous!" he pleaded.

i"_Minion_."i Megamind groaned, turning to glare at the robot. "What did I tell you about disturbing me while I was enjoying myself with Roxanne?"

"To not bother you." The fish said weakly.

"Exactly. Why are you suddenly turning on me like this? Why are you questioning me? You've never done this before, and in front of Roxanne! How am I supposed to intimidate her with you whining at me like this?" the blue alien demanded as he stormed up to the fish, and jabbed his finger in the fake fur.

"Because it is too early, Sir. If M came along now, how will you protect yourself? How could _I_ protect you?" the fish asked, voice shaking. "We know almost nothing about his abilities, we-"

"Just because you know nothing does not mean I do not!" he spun suddenly and stormed back to Roxanne's side. "I have placed security cameras all over this miserable city. I have seen him in action when he thought he was safe and protected. I have seen him and I _know who he is_. And he will fall, he will crumble and he will DIE by my hand and nobody else's!"

"You're mad." Roxanne said venomously, "You're completely mad!"

i"THIS ISN'T HOW IT WAS SUPPOSED TO GO!"i Megamind suddenly screamed at the top of his lungs, shocking Roxanne and causing Minion to go running from the room. "You weren't supposed to talk to me like that! You weren't supposed to HATE me! Why can't you smile for me, at me, like you do on the news? Every time you blink it tells me how you feel WHY ARE YOU DENYING ME NOW?" the blue alien was shaking, and in reaction to this, the room itself seemed to shake. A light hanging from the ceiling shook, then suddenly broke loose and fell to the floor and shattered on impact, sending shards of glass in all directions. Even the glass in his hand exploded. "It's him, isn't it? You have him. Everybody loves him. It doesn't matter who or what they do, doesn't matter what they've gone through…"

Roxanne had never been so terrified in her life. This man, this alien, was so twisted and insane he could barely talk straight anymore. He could move things with his mind… That much she could tell. But not only that, but he could i_destroyi_ things with his mind too. She looked at the broken glass in his hand and shuddered to imagine he would do the same to her. What could she do? She could speak nicely to him, to at least calm him. It would buy her time, at least until M would show up. He i_hadi_ to show up.

"Wh-what have you been through…?" she asked shakily. "What happened… to… to you?"

It felt as though the silence had sucker punched the room for it was a painful, awkwardly still moment. Megamind, his expression moments ago being of complete rage and turmoil, was now one of wide eyed wonder and innocence. It was like time had reversed, and he was a child all over again… unknowing of the anger of the world outside, unaware of what the doctors had in store for him. It was all a game. All of the tests with the flash cards, math, science, and everything else that School taught him. It was feeding his growing brain, being absorbed like a sponge in a sink full of water, and he couldn't get enough of it.

"Nobody… nobody's ever asked me that before…" he said quietly.

"First time for everything, am I right?" Roxanne asked, the shake in her voice less now. She prayed he continued to act this way, even though it was just as terrifying as seeing him scream and cause glass to explode, he was less threatening this way. At least that's what she told herself.

"I was. I was experimented on." Megamind slowly said, giving voice to the pain he had experienced all his life. "I had mental tests first. See how smart I was. The doctors… they were amazed… I could talk and walk only at a month old… I knew numbers, colors, letters, everything and just after a few short lessons… they had never witnessed anything like me. I was special. I was unique. I was the last of my kind." He touched his chest, as if searching for his skin but found himself incapable of doing so because of his leather and his layers. "But then they started testing. They… they hurt me… always with the needles… I'd wake up with scars I didn't remember getting… there'd be a drain, in my skull, i_in my skull_…"i he trailed off, voice shaking.

"Why were they doing that to you?" the woman asked.

"Because look at me." The alien replied, looking at her now, his expression one of pain and exhaustion. "I came from another world. I was found, while the other who arrived with me got away. He sent me off course… the government found me, and felt it best to keep me in isolation. To study, test, investigate, learn everything they wanted and you know what?"

"What?" Roxanne asked quietly.

"I thought that was all there was to my life. I never argued." He slid his hand along the metal table she was strapped to, eyes staring vacantly ahead. "I thought it was all there was to the world. But then I remembered Minion. I remembered the sky. Minion came to me, he did. They never saw him. He helped teach me what I could do, and I tried to break out. Do you know what happened?"

"Well you broke out?" she hazarded a guess, since he was standing there before her.

Megamind snorted in an amused kind of way, and suddenly got off the table and bent over, and began to un-strap his boots. Roxanne's mind raced, as did her hearts. Was he undressing? Why was he undressing? She thought she had been doing so well! She had been stalling for time, and it almost felt like they were getting somewhere, but now he was taking his clothes off. Oh God. She was going to be…

But when the boot came off, he didn't continue. Instead he turned and slammed his foot onto the table and Roxanne found herself staring in shock. His leg, from the knee down, was not flesh and blood like the rest of him. It was a metallic leg. The metal was various shades of gray, silver, and black. The foot was articulated like a regular normal foot, five toes, but without toe nails.

"My first attempt sent me falling down an elevator shaft. I thought I could fly myself out. Instead I broke both my legs and all but shattered my spine. The doctors, once they found me, removed my legs. I was awake during the operation. Claimed it was a lesson, but also a test. Test on how far I could manage pain. Do you know how old I was?" he asked quietly, having spoken at a low, leveled tone.

"How… how old…?" she asked, eyes still stuck on his leg.

"Thirteen years old. They thought removing my legs and leaving me to suffer in my room would smother any further attempts at escape. I made them believe the drugs they were feeding me left me brain dead and complacent. Human beings are… so easy to fool and trick. I tried again, four years later and I got out. I got OUT! And I blew half of them to fucking Hell in the process!" Megamind spat, pulling his foot back off the table and onto the floor where it made a metallic clank noise as it hit the floor. "Then I hunted down all the rest, all of them and killed them all! And you know the genius of it? Nobody ever knew! It was brilliant, it was amazing!"

An alarm went off in the back of Roxanne's mind. She remembered all her days investigating the scientists who had died in their homes. All of them had been natural deaths, all of them either committing suicide or suffering brain aneurisms or heart attacks. She always knew something was wrong with it and now she knew why. These were the scientists who had worked on this poor, twisted, sick individual. They had taken what had once been, possibly, a healthy and happy child and turned it into this crazed man she now saw stood before her.

"I've almost gotten them all." Megamind said as he suddenly bent and pulled his boot back on, lacing it quickly and strapping up the small belts just as quickly. "Only one remains hidden, but I'll find him. But tonight, I have somebody else I need to deal with. M."

"Why are you against him? Roxanne asked shakily, the mention of the hero bringing back the small shred of hope she had that he could find her in time before whatever it was Megamind had in mind for her could happen. She prayed, whatever it was, that it was quick and painless.

"He is the reason the government found me. You see, we both started life on our own planets. Oh yes. M is an alien. A very human appearing one. Unlike myself. When we were just in your atmosphere the little adorable baby that was M decided, as fun, to knock my own pod out of its course. I landed in a freaking i_prison yardi_ where the government picked me up like I was a piece of produce in a market. Yet he got away scot free. As if the rules didn't apply to him. HE. HE got to live a life! He got to see the sun! He got to throw a football! He got to experience EVERYTHING while I was subjected to… to… HELL."

Roxanne turned her head away as he screamed again, the noise hurting her ears. If he continued on this course he would become enflamed with anger and hatred, and yearn to hurt something. She was the only one in the room, so she tried to calm him. But how could she? She could offer no words of sympathy, no promises of things getting better. How could things get better for him? He couldn't enter society again, if he did the government might swoop in again and pull him back underground. Or worse, he could be all out killed for what he had done in order to escape, for his madness, and his callousness at attacking the city as well as his ties to the Doom Syndicate.

Oh god, she actually felt sorry for him.

"So, my dear." Megamind set his hands to the table and leaned over, looking down at her. "Now that you know my little story you understand why I have used you as bait to call out M. I saw him, loitering outside your apartment a few nights ago that gave me the realization he had something to do with you. He is either a lover, a friend, a brother, i_somethingi_ to make him check on you personally."

"Wait, you've been watching me?" Roxanne suddenly felt repulsed, the pity she felt before melting faster than a snow flake in July.

"Not i_thati_ closely." Megamind replied casually, before continuing on the topic at hand. "But either way it was that moment I realized that was how I could draw him out. You would the lure, the worm on the hook that I cast into the ocean that is this miserable city and land me a big fat M." he daringly reached out, and put his hand to her knee and the contact sent sparks of disgust through Roxanne's being. "You're my pawn in a game of Chess I intend on winning."

Roxanne shut her eyes, and tried to displace herself. She tried, in vain, to imagine herself anywhere else but here. She was supposed to be starting her time off, right now. Roxanne should have been packing her suitcases and going to the airport, buying a ticket spontaneously for anywhere in America. It didn't matter where, just as long as she wasn't here in this city. But fate had spat in her face and now here she was, strapped to a table, with a crazed split personality, megalomaniac psychopath using her to bring down the greatest hero that Metro City had ever seen.

She felt like she could cry.


	11. Chapter 11

Being the biggest shareholder, and owner, of one of the countries largest companies was never something to be taken lightly in ones life. One had to dedicate themselves to the cause, and the company, one hundred and fifty percent, and that's exactly what Wayne Scott had done. He had been raised respecting his parents' judgements and actions, to do as they told him to do, and it was expected of him to take up his father's place at the top of the company and run it above and beyond his best ability.

That's why, when the alert by the unknown Megamind was broadcasted throughout the city, Wayne Scott was at the front of a podium, giving a speech to his fellow share holders about where they stood and what kind of revenue they were going to be getting in return. Every single mobile had ringed at once, and that same striking voice came roaring into the office room like a tidal wave against a bed of rocks.

Wayne stood there, his hands gripping the podium, unaware of the indents he was causing in the mahogany wood. Megamind? He knew that name; he had heard the Doom Syndicate head players mention it now and then whenever he came down on them. Psycho Delic had laughed hysterically at him, when as M, had been dragging him through the city sewers. He had laughed about this Megamind, the brains behind everything, and how M was going to go down in the hardest way possible. At first Wayne had brushed it all off as the ramblings of a drug addled mind, but now... had it all been real? All those empty-sounding threats, promises of his death and the destruction of the city?

Why hadn't he taken it more seriously when he had the chance?

"Excuse me gentlemen, in light of the present situation I think you'll forgive me for postponing this little venture. I'll have my secretary contact your secretaries and we'll work something out I'm sure." he said as he held up his hands in an apologetic manner, and left the room, ignoring the shouts of confusion and anger at his back.

Closing the door he took a moment to take a deep breath to calm his nerves, and then walked to the nearest window, which happened to be the size of the wall, and stared out at the city spread out before him like a carpet. He could see the black smoke that continued to wrap itself around the Metro City Tower well enough from here. When he turned his head slightly he glanced at one of the flat screen televisions that had camera crews on the scene already, men and women interviewing people who were witnesses to the attack. Already there was shaky footage of the blue skinned man as he had descended upon the city, but they were blurry at best so there weren't any definite views of him. Paramedics and ambulances were also there, treating those whom had shards of glass embedded in their skin and those who were outright unconscious and injured.

Just how far was this mad man willing to go?

The time to think things over was past. The time for action was now, and when the other shareholders began to file out from the meeting room they found Wayne Scott was long gone.

Wayne Scott ran down the stairs of the tall building, but nary a bead of sweat dared to stain itself upon his forehead or neck. Doing these kinds of fetes, what some people called amazing, was every day occurrences for the millionaire. For a long time, at least when he was a child, he thought he had just been one of those boys who were just gifted. He could run fast, jump far... it always impressed those around him but one day, when he had been climbing one of the trees in the back of his family's large expansive grounds the small child had fallen out of the tree he had been climbing. Just before landing on the ground he had halted, and found himself hovering just above the ground. At first this had scared the boy that he could suddenly hover but he quickly learned that he could not only hover, but also he could fly.

He had spent hours soaring around the property, and had rightfully scared his mother when she had come home from her monthly book club meeting. But instead of being amazed by her child's abilities she had pulled him aside, and sat him down.

She had warned him about this, about his gifts. His mother had explained that she had found him, abandoned on their property and without a home. Long had she wished for a child and he was her answer, as if a gift from Heaven above especially for them. But there would be people, bad people, who would want to take him away from them forever if they discovered what he could do. As a child, even one with powers and strength like he did, Wayne had been terrified at the prospect of being taken from his parents. Despite Wayne's father being away at the office for days on end most of the time, the idea of loosing both his parents because of what he could do was rightfully frightening.

So the little boy had promised his mother that day that he would never fly again, or do anything to draw attention to himself. And, being a good little boy, he had kept that promise for as long as his mother and father lived. Now, though, they were gone. Gone beyond his reach, despite his powers, they were gone.

Years ago his father was branching out the Scott Corporation, entering biological science. Naturally this caused a lot of unrest with some groups, who felt that stem cell research, and the study of DNA was spitting in the face of God. Wayne recalled how his father used to laugh off their weak attempts at arguments, and had spoken of having something 'really big' in the works, something that would blow the medical world out of the water. So great, that nobody would question the science again. But on the night of the opening event, being held at City Hall, something came to pass that would help sculpt Wayne into who he would become. Those people had set something up, within City Halls, which sent devastation throughout the city like a pebble being dropped in a pool of water.

They had planted a bomb.

The night still remained a blur to the young boy, a teenager at the time, since one moment his father had been speaking into the microphone, his wife and son to his left while other men of important stature to his right. The next, everything was crumbling and there was fire. Wayne didn't see his parents die, but he had felt it in his core, in his heart. The naysayers who had voiced out against the study of genetic science and biology had 'won' that night. But they would never win the war. Because now the young, orphaned, Wayne Scott made a vow. A vow for his parents who would never grow old, and die of old age, instead of seeing their son grow up to be the professional business man he was set to become they were dead. It had almost drove Wayne insane, but he promised himself that evil would no longer spread any further then it already had. That he would find those who found joy in pain and suffering and brought it down on them, instead of the innocents.

Thus, M was born.

But now, through his actions, something far greater had risen to challenge him head on. He had been so careful too, never showing his face, never trying to show he had connections or concerns to certain individuals. Yet this Megamind had grabbed the one person who he felt anything for. How had he known?

Well, he was going to find out.

Seconds later the business suit was gone, replaced with an outfit he wore when he was M. It was skintight of course, since you didn't want baggy clothing in case somebody tried to grab at you. The color was a deep red and blue color, with an M just showing on his left temple in a right yellow color. To hide his identity he wore a cowl made of matching deep reds and blues, and it covered all of his face save for his mouth and eyes. Tassels hung down from the gloves he wore, as well as his boots, and they gently rippled against the air as M flew through the air. As he approached the scene of the crime he found he wasn't alone.

It seemed as though Megamind had left little adversaries to come up against him since no sooner had he approached the black plumes of smoke that still lingered around the city centre and at least twenty robots unlike any he had seen before in his life came flying out of the darkness. He couldn't hover there in awe for long though since they all had mouths that reminded him of bear traps and once they latched onto his arms and legs he knew about it. Grunting, he swung his arms and legs in an attempt to shake them off but their teeth were firmly embedded in his flesh and tore at his material.

As he flew around, throwing the robots against the floor or buildings, he was unaware of one of them hovering just out of his reach and sight that was filming the image.

"Oh wow, look at him, just LOOK at him!" Megamind declared, hands gripping at a brand new unshattered glass, eyes peeled to the projected image that another Brain Bot was showing to him on the big screen he had in his base. He took a small sip. "Seriously, are you seeing this?" he asked, turning back to Roxanne who was still strapped to the operation table. "Look at him Roxanne, your hero finally has the balls to show himself! And all it took was for me to kidnap you to do it. Man," he set a hand to his cheek. "I should have done this years ago."

Roxanne stared at the screen, eyes wide. Like everyone in the city, she had no idea that M was or what he looked like. To suddenly be exposed to his image, in broad daylight at that, was breath taking. The way he flew effortlessly, without worry or care even if he had a never ended stream of flying robots attacking him. Roxanne hadn't ever thought that the first time she would see him was the day he could, possibly, meet his end. And seeing him tousle with the Brain Bots who were latching onto any part of him that they could, it certainly made her worry for the man.

"You won't get away with this, you know that." Roxanne finally hissed and narrowed her eyes at the blue alien who was taking obvious joy in seeing the man up on the screen falling under the sheer weight and strength of the robots who just didn't seem to end.

"Well that's nice and negative." Megamind replied coldly. "How do you know that will happen? Can you tell the future?" he asked, arching an eyebrow.

"No..." she replied quietly somehow suspecting his question had been a genuine one. Roxanne guessed she had expected correctly since he almost looked disappointed at her answer.

"Then you can't go around making proclamations like that. It's just silly." Megamind replied in a know-it-all kind of way before taking a sip of his drink again and looked back at the screen. He then raised a wrist to his mouth and spoke into it. "Code, release the big shock robot."

Roxanne didn't have to ask what he meant by big shock robot since the answer appeared on the screen before her very eyes merely a second later. The ground began to tremble with a great force, as if there was an earthquake. Buildings themselves began to quake in that small way buildings tended to during such occurrences. She watched as the brain bots that could fly (who hadn't been smashed by M) suddenly removed themselves from the scene, whose costume was ripped and torn in some places, revealing his exposed skin. Was he panting? Impossible. But then the ground beneath him seemed to swell, as if something was pushing up from beneath the ground itself. M flew higher, as if he could predict was about to happen, but he was too slow.

A large robotic arm erupted from the heart of the earth, all metal and spikes, and it clamped its large hand shut tightly around the man's legs and hauled him back down into the ground. All around, dust flew and pieces of cement and bitcumen, which had been dislodged and sent Heaven ward, was now falling back to ground, crunching loudly as they landed. Those people who had dared to try and watch the battle ran for cover, trying to take cover in the surrounding buildings only to have blocks of concrete and cement go crashing through the windows.

M hadn't anticipated having tonnes of pressure and steel crushing down on top of him, but that was exactly what he got. Not only that, but bold, sharp arcs of electricity suddenly shot through his body. The man yelled in pain and frustration before the robot that held him pulled back, and then slammed him down onto the ground as it began to slowly climb out of the earth. It was bigger then he thought it was, its arms long and sounded of gears and metal under great stress. Its torso was round, and spiked, as were the legs. But it held no head. Just how it was seeing what it was doing was hard to tell, was it all pre-programmed by Megamind to do things by default, not by sight?

His train of thought was derailed as another arc of electricity ripped through his body and M heard himself screaming. This was beyond anything he had experienced before. The Doom Syndicate, the criminals who broke into apartments and banks, they weren't twenty storey tall robots who were dominating him and destroying the city as if it were made of matchsticks?

On the screen in Megamind's lair, green and blue eyes were peeled to the screen. The robot staggered back as it got to its feet, and one building began to crumble just to its back. Above the smoke and rubble they could hear the screams of people who had been caught between a rock and a hard place, sometimes literally. Roxanne's eyes were now streaming, despite her inner strength, at the devastation that was happening up above ground level. Megamind was revelling at the deaths of all these people, as if it was all included and he had been anticipating it. He was enjoying the screams cutting short, the destruction of buildings and the screams of a man who everyone had seen as a hero.

"Am I winning?" Megamind asked as he watched his large robot slammed the small hero against another building, grinding him against it as if he were a spider stuck to the sole of its boot. "I think I'm winning!"

"It's horrible! YOU'RE horrible!" Roxanne spat, once more trying to free herself from her restraints. If she could dislodge at least her foot or a hand she could hit him, as if a strike from her would make him feel suddenly sorry for what he was unleashing upon the city she called home.

"Horrible?" Megamind turned his gaze to her, and he stared at her, those green expressive eyes turning from joy and happiness to concern and hurt. "I'm horrible?" he asked quietly, "Why would you say that?"

"Why?" she screamed, "Look at what you're doing! Imagine the people who are already DEAD just because you think you have a score to settle! You have no score, Megamind, you don't! You yourself said all those who hurt you are dead!"

"All but ONE!" the alien pointed out, holding up a finger to signify the one. "One has escaped me but I will find him!"

"But then what? Who will you go after when they're all dead and gone? Why does a whole city have to pay for the actions of those doctors? I know they stole so much from you and denied you a proper life but that doesn't give you the right or reason to kill innocent people! IT JUST DOESN'T!" she screamed, hands shaking against her restraints.

The blue alien stared at her, his eyes still that lost and confused expression one would expect to find on a puppy that had been told to do something it didn't understand. Roxanne's words cut into him deeply. Nobody had ever spoken to him like this before, and it not only excited him but also angered him at the same time. This woman, this beautiful, intelligent, gifted woman would speak to him like he was trash? He wasn't trash. He wasn't! He was unique! He was the last of a dead society, and the world had to answer to his suffering and pain. For the death of his only friend. For everything.

Roxanne swallowed dryly as behind Megamind on the screen the robot was suddenly collapsing, its legs sliced through by a high-energy beam coming out from M's eyes. But Megamind didn't seem to care, despite the wristwatch on his right wrist beeping noisily at the death of the robot. He abandoned his drink, the glass falling to the ground and smashing onto it, staining the carpet, as he approached her and loomed over her. She could almost see the vision in the aliens' eyes turn from confused pain to anger and the next thing she knew his gloved hand was to her throat.

"You dare speak to me like that?" he asked quietly, voice lost and quiet despite the obvious rage and hurt on his face. "You ask what gives me the right, well what gives you the right to say those words to me? What right, Roxanne, do any of us have?" Megamind asked, his voice rising from a quiet whisper to a loud scream that hurt her ears as the tightness in her throat began to grow.

"Because..." she fought against the pain, eyes shutting tightly. "Some... somebody has to..."

Megamind took a long, deep, shuddering breath as the hand around her neck tightened more. He could end this. He could end her. Stop her pleas and her insults, leaving him in the silence that he was so comfortable in. What happened next was a shock to both of them. Roxanne couldn't explain it, probably because of the lack of oxygen she had been experiencing or sheer confusion, but one moment he had been standing over her with his hand to her neck and the next he was being thrown backwards by an invisible force she couldn't comprehend, especially with her dizzy mind, and she just faintly registered the grunt he made as he slammed against the wall and collapsed to the ground.

Both alien and human coughed violently, Roxanne could never have felt more grateful for the ability for being capable of breathing before in her life. Megamind grasped the back of his head, his shoulders shaking as he slowly got to his feet but almost fell over again since he had trodden upon his cape. He felt dizzy, and light headed. What had done that? Who had thrown him? Grasping at one of the monitors for support, he stood there, his knees shaking and his head swam.

"Sir, Sir!" the voice of Minion sounded worried and distant, as if coming to him from the end of a long tunnel. He lifted his head, but he couldn't see Minion anywhere in the room. Where was he? Why did he sound so scared and alone? "M is on his way Sir. He's coming for you. I can't help you anymore, Sir. I'm sorry. I did my best for you Sir, I really did."

"What?" Megamind asked shakily, as he turned on the spot trying to see Minion. Yet still he was alone in the room with the woman strapped to the table. "Minion, what are you saying-"

"I tried, Sir. I hated seeing you become this, this something I can't control anymore or help." the familiar voice was slipping away now, being drowned out by a sound Megamind could not hear.

"NO!" Megamind screamed, and rushed from the room as quickly as he could, tripping over himself twice until he found the robot body he had made for Minion. It stood there lifeless, empty, just a cold metallic body without a soul and heart. "MINION!" he slammed his fists onto the chest of the gorilla body, ignoring the pain in his hands. "COME BACK! I DEMAND YOU TO COME BACK! You can't leave your master! You can't leave me! COME BACK!"

"I can't, Sir." the voice was barely beneath a whisper now, and it was full of sorrow and pain. "I'm sorry."

And Minion was gone. Megamind didn't know how he knew or understood it, but he was gone. Then he felt another rush of air, as if something was trying to push him again, yet it didn't even shift him a little. He felt a presence pass through him, through his soul, and he felt Minion for the last time. The robot body before him, which had once brought a comfort of friendship and love, was now empty. Minion was gone. His hearts began to beat out of pace with each other, and his chest rose and fall. Why did he leave? Why did Minion leave him? What had he done? He needed him, he needed him here and now! Had M done this? Had M found a way to kill his friend a second time? That had to be it! M had killed his friend, he had killed him the first time around and now had done it a second time and...

"M is coming." Megamind whispered shakily, eyes wide and lost, remembering the last words of the fish. "M is coming. M IS COMING!" he screamed at the darkness of his fake base and ran from the dead robotic body and slammed into the metal operating table Roxanne was strapped to. She was still shaky from the choking, so when he unstrapped her restraints the woman put up no fight. Grabbing her he hauled her off of the table and held her to his body, and upholstered the gun that had always hung by his hip. "Let him come." he said as he pointed the weapon to the woman's temple. "I'm ready. I'll show you, Minion... I'll show you..."

Roxanne groaned quietly, her eyes beginning to flutter open as the world began to return to her. Where was she? She was reminded when she felt the thin, yet surprisingly strong, arm around her front and the pointy spikes pinching into her cheek and shoulder. "AH!" she screamed and pulled her elbow up then slammed it sharply into the aliens' stomach, who doubled over. He hadn't anticipated it, so he hadn't braced for it, hadn't protected himself. The second Megamind began to bend over Roxanne acted again, slamming a fist into his blue face and he went falling over. Now she was finally free, she took off running in the one direction she could find. But just as she ran through the doorway she ran into the large robot body she had seen before, the one that had said nothing at all.

It almost fell on her, just narrowly she avoided being crushed by it as it toppled over, and made a run for it again but found herself incapable of it. Megamind was back, and he was holding her with his mind, that much she was aware of. Despite her odds she struggled still, grunting and straining against his hold as the blue alien joined her.

"That wasn't very nice of you." he said quietly, sounding out of breath and in a little pain. "But you've got a lot of fight in you. I like that." Megamind admitted as he lifted the strange looking gun again and spun a golden ring that seemed to wrap around the neck of the gun.

"Then you're going to love me."

The third voice threw Megamind off, and he spun around and saw standing in the door way the figure of M. Where had he come from? Had he just burst in while Roxanne was making her escape? The man's costume was stained with grease, dust, and some blood. It was ripped and torn from where Megamind's brain bots and large robot had left their mark, yet despite all of this the man didn't look tired at all. He looked barely winded.

The two aliens stared at one another, sizing the other up quickly.

"Been a long time coming, hasn't it?" M asked, fists forming by his sides as he stood there, ready and waiting for the blue skinned alien to make his move.

"Too long." Megamind replied quietly, before he opened his mouth and let out a war scream, amplified by the loss of his fish, his sanity, his right for vengeance. Not only that, but also the power he held within his very soul, a strength that M could not guard himself from. Roxanne shut her eyes as tightly as she could as the sound ripped through her ear drums and she heard a crunching sound followed by a groan, and when she opened her eyes she was shocked to see M thrown back into the room that she and Megamind had previously been in, taking half of the doorway with him.

"LET IT BEGIN!" Megamind screamed. "LET IT BEGIN!"

Roxanne watched as the blue alien ran across the floor like a child on Christmas day, and stood over the fallen hero. "Did you like my robots, M?" he asked calmly, "I hope they played nice with you, I told them to."

"Most... well behaved robots I've ever had the pleasure of destroying..." M replied, wind knocked out of him by the powerful psychic force that he hadn't anticipated. But he was up seconds later and his fist made contact with Megamind's face, and he could feel the bone breaking under his fist as he did so. Megamind went soaring backwards, and groaned as he slammed against the wall and slid down to the ground.

"Well.. that hurt." Megamind mumbled. This should have been the understatement of the century since his nose was well and truly broken and his acidic blood was gushing from his nose. Naturally his own skin was immune to its powers but that didn't mean his clothing was. Wherever the liquid landed, the material hissed gently before it began to break away.

"I haven't even gotten started yet!" M proclaimed as he strode forward and grabbed Megamind by the collar and lifted him up high into the air. "You have a lot to answer for, all those lives you've ended, and all the evil you've spread through this beautiful city!"

"Beautiful?" the alien spat, allowing M to believe he had the upper hand by simply hanging there from his grip. "It was never beautiful to me, because of you!" as he spoke, his blood spat out and landed on M's face.

"Me?" the hero asked, "What did I do?" he squinted his eyes, ignoring the slight burning feeling he could feel on his face where the alien had spat at him.

"YOU KNOCKED ME OFF COURSE!" Megamind screamed and that powerful psychic push was back, and M was thrown backwards, crashing into the table Roxanne had been strapped to before tumbling three times and ended up half embedded in the concrete wall.

"Off, off course?" M asked shakily.

"You and I escaped dying planets together. You don't remember, but I do. God I wish I didn't but I do!" Megamind said as he got to his feet slowly, blood already leaking from his nostrils and the corner of his mouth. "We were both heading for this city, and you... you and your stupid little gold ship... KNOCKED ME OFF COURSE. You know who found me? The fucking government! Guess what they do to aliens! Not nice things, NOT NICE THINGS." he pointed his gun at M suddenly and pulled the trigger. M just narrowly avoided a blast that obliterated a good tonne of concrete behind him into dust.

He's insane, M thought. Totally and utterly insane. When someone was this mad, this unhinged and dangerous there was only one thing that could be done but that was against the one rule he held close to his heart. He couldn't kill anyone. It wasn't right to end a life before it was supposed to. If he killed this crazed alien before him, how would that make him different from the scum he fought on a daily basis? There would be no difference, he would become whom he hated. Could he afford himself just that moment, just this once, to end a life?

When the blue alien shot at him again, this time at the ceiling above him so concrete blocks came crashing down upon him, he began to think maybe he could. The powerful lasers that lay hidden within his eyes suddenly sparked up, and he shot straight at Megamind, but they never made contact. The half destroyed table he had ran through suddenly leapt up, as if alive, and blocked the blast. It bounced off and sliced through the television screen, which exploded on impact, sparking wildly as it did and then fell into silence.

"It's all because of you. You they found me. You they cut me open. You they sawed off my legs. You killed Minion not only then but today IT'S ALL YOU!" Megamind screamed as another psychic blast sent M crashing against the wall, and he felt an old pipe make itself known in the small of his back. God, that time it did hurt.

"I didn't do nothing to you, Megamind..." M coughed, "You made who you are all yourself..."

Megamind screamed in frustration, he just kept missing with his De-Gun. What was the point in having it? He quickly put it back into its holster, and glared at the suave man who he hated so very, very much. All these years he had been foiling the Doom Syndicate, fun at first to watch but it had quickly become very annoying. But he had seen the way Roxanne had spoken of him on the news, the way her face would flush and her voice would titter ever so slightly when speaking about what kind of hope he brought to the people. Why couldn't she talk about him that way? Why did nobody speak to him like that?

The alien began to back track, holding his cape slightly as he did so he wouldn't fall over it. "No... I didn't..." Megamind said quietly, "Evil did. Fate threw me to evil like a discarded piece of meat to a dog and it ripped me in TWO. But you, oh you... you might have gotten me then, your might have hidden the man in charge of it all... you might have killed Minion twice, but I will have the last laugh!"

"In charge? Minion? What are you talking about?" M asked, hands out and ready, prepared to attack again once he had the opportunity. Despite knowing he had it every second the man spoke he somehow found himself rooted to the spot. Was it the alien's ability, or his own curious nature making him stand still as he watched his bizarre, scarred, twisted individual slowly back away from him.

"He's crazy!" Roxanne suddenly shouted, drawing both men's attention to her from where she stood literally rooted to the spot. "He was talking to himself the entire time! He, he raised his voice and referred to himself as Minion! I have no idea what-"

"MINION WAS REAL!" Megamind screamed, making the air around the three of them shake violently in reaction. "HE KILLED HIM! YOU WERE COMING AND HE DIED! MY FRIEND. MY ONLY FRIEND. YOU KILLED HIM!" the madness was back as suddenly as it had left him, the wild, crazed look in his eyes scared M and that was a feat all in itself because he was normally never scared of just a look from somebody. But this tore into his soul and it terrified him. "So... I think it fair that I kill you, in return." the smooth, calm voice took M by surprise.

He was to respond, to laugh at this blue man and tell him that he couldn't hurt him, nothing could. He had come up against fire, bullets, knives, saws, everything that anybody could throw at him yet he came out a-ok each and every time. But when he tried to answer he found he couldn't. He tried to take a breath of air, but found the ability lost on him. M's eyes widened as he felt his heart race quicken, and the dizziness began to set in.

Megamind was smiling at him, his small thin chest held out in a confident way as he watched the man ahead of him begin to slowly crumple in front of him.

"Even heroes need to breath, M. Your choice in doing so has just been revoked."


	12. Chapter 12

Roxanne watched, rooted to the spot, horrified at what she was witnessing. She had watched as M had thrown Megamind around the room like a rag doll, and had experienced a fleeting and conflicting moment of realizing she was both cheering on M mentally but also wishing he'd go easier on the genius. How she wished she hadn't tried to stall for time, asking him personal questions and learning just what he had gone through, what moments had molded him into the body he now wore. Nobody, especially an orphaned baby, deserved to be raised in such conditions. For what purpose did it serve? Medical advancements? The study of alien life? Seeing how different Megamind was to human beings?

And then she saw that he was bleeding, and striking white blood splattering from his shattered nose and dribble out of his mouth to land on both the floor and on his chest. Even she had to wince at that, since it would no doubt hurt getting your nose broken no matter who you were especially if it was broken by M who was known to have super-human strength. Could it be called super-human if he wasn't human? He certainly looked human enough, unlike Megamind, making her realize this anger might also have cropped up from the simple feeling of jealousy. That one could hide amongst a sea of people in every day life while the other stuck out like a sore thumb.

It suddenly looked like M could be winning this, despite a part of her judgment which wished she would leave the broken individual alone despite all he'd done. Roxanne wanted to shout at him to leave the blue man alone, that he had suffered already far more than either of them could imagine. They had cut his legs from his body when he was just a teenager, barely out of his childhood years, just because he had tried to escape. A friend, be it an imaginary one or had once been actually real, had been killed. Nothing but loss, pain and suffering. It was like a scratched record, this blue man's life.

But as Roxanne's mind argued with itself over what was right, and what was wrong, she watched as M suddenly began to crumble. The hero gasped for breath and clutched at his throat and face, and then he was down.

"What are you doing?" she screamed, her body shaking and trying to foolishly free itself from bonds she couldn't see. Roxanne's eyes were wide and with panic, watching as the hero continued to gaps for breath like a fish pulled out of water.

"Killing him." Megamind replied quietly as he walked hurriedly over to the crumpling man. "I'm cutting off the oxygen to his body. It's like a pocket of air right in his mouth and it's not allowing anything in. Or out." he further explained as he reached down as if he was going to touch the man, but then thought better of it and pulled his hand away.

"STOP IT!" Roxanne screamed, and she saw the blue alien shrink back at the scream like a little child being scolded by its parent and she suddenly remembered. He had seemed so fixated on her liking him before, the first time he had snapped was because she had called him insane. What if that could help sway things in M's favor? If not his favor, it might get Megamind to stop whatever it was he was planning to do once M was done away with. She had to stop this plan dead in its tracks. Quickly thinking she continued. "I'LL HATE YOU FOREVER IF YOU KILL HIM!" she shouted, getting her point across.

Megamind's eyes widened considerably with fear, before they narrowed with steel resolute. He wanted this alien man dead, dead and buried then dug up again, burned, melted into something smashable and then that smashable thing destroyed. But he wanted Roxanne too, in what way or fashion he couldn't properly understand but he wanted her to... to... something. Before he had laid eyes on the woman, he truly had despised every single human being in existence for living lives they had some control over. They had choices in things, their opinions were heard, and they weren't tested on like mice in a scientists lab.

And then he had seen her, late one night as he was flipping channels after doing some work on his future fish robot army. There she was, reporting live on the scene of a recent bank robbery conducted by Destruction Worker (half the proceeds were already in his possession). Megamind had never seen a more perfect specimen of a human being in his entire life before, and he had seen a lot of people in his life. The woman in the facility were of all shapes and sizes, skin colors and eyes, their hair at various shapes but after his first escape attempt hair was always cut short. Did they think he would pull on their hair? He didn't know... But her eyes were a bright sky blue color which seemed to stare straight into his soul, her voice that of an angel and her face... everything was absolutely perfect in his eyes. How he wished, for the first time in his life, that he was normal. That he could have approached her on the street to say hello, or to even dare himself to write her a fan letter detailing what a brilliant reporter she was.

A fraction of him had wondered if this was healthy at all, to fixate on a woman who was on a television screen, but his logic and reason had shriveled under years of pain and trauma in the alien's mind. All he saw was a beautiful creature that he could never truly have no matter how long he lived or what he did. Even if he turned everything around and set things straight, became a good guy and won over the people he had terrorized for years... would that win her? Would that bring that beautifully shaped woman to his arms, to feel an embrace for the first time in his life? Would it mean she would kiss him?

No.

But to be hated? To be seen as something lower then scum, and dirt? Could he stand that? To be hated by her? She was the only human being alive whose opinion mattered to him, and to know she hated him...

"But..." Megamind started shakily, and Roxanne suddenly realized she could move her fingers for the first time since he got a hold of her, "But he... it's..." he trailed off into silence, and uncertainty.

"It's not his fault, Megamind." Roxanne used his name, it was important to make the connection with his name, to keep him grounded and focused on her and hearing his name. "It's those scientists who got their hands on you Megamind. It's their fault all of these things happened. If they weren't so blind to the wonderful person you really were and not just a lab experiment things would never had turned out like this."

"Really?" Megamind asked quietly and apprehensive, body still standing over the fallen M, his eyes locked on Roxanne's but his mind had floated away to think if possible alternate versions of himself that he might have become if he hadn't been treated like he had. The intense insanity she had seen in those eyes was melting like snow in the springtime, warmth slowly beginning to shine through those acidic green eyes.

"Yes, yes." she replied, "You're right, you didn't deserve it. Bad things happen in the world but sometimes there is nobody to place blame on, these are not one of those times though. They deserved what they got from you, Megamind, they earned it from only seeing you as a pin-cushion and nothing else." while she could hardly condone cold blooded murder, she wouldn't let him know that. It would ruin everything.

"Pin-cushion?" Megamind asked, having never heard of such a thing. "What is that?"

"Uh, it's a little small round cushion tailor's strap to their wrists to stick their sewing needles and pins in when they're working." Roxanne explained quickly, suddenly reeling at just how disconnected from the world the man had been.

"Oh." Megamind blinked before he looked down at M, who was shakily breathing again. When had that happened? He didn't remember letting go of the air pocket in the others mouth. If he didn't put it back M was going to get back on his feet and the pain and hurting would start all over again. But he didn't. While he didn't try to strangle him a second time, or to cut off the oxygen to his brain, or even disconnect his retinas in his eyes all he did was hold him to the ground with as much power as he could muster... and that was a lot.

It was so much power that the surrounding foundation began to slightly shake in reaction, as if fearing what was going to take place here. The tense and electricity in the air could have been cut with a knife and served up as desert to people in the city. Dust and rust flakes from the buildings supports began to gently drift down to the ground, and particles of dust in the air became more obvious and visible in the bright day light which was pouring into the building from the hole M had punched his way through. Megamind took a shaky breath, and then looked back up to see that Roxanne was actually free. She was no longer where he was holding her, she had moved but instead of further towards the exit of the building she was closer now.

His hearts began to race quickly, it felt as though they were preparing themselves to erupt out of his chest. Why wasn't she trying to escape from him? Anyone else would be running from him for their lives, hoping he take his frustrations out on the fallen hero who he could now hear grunting, trying to fight his way out from the hold Megamind's psychically had upon him. M wouldn't get anywhere, and he somehow knew it but his determined and bull-headed nature meant he wouldn't stop trying. Roxanne was trying to distract him, to pull him into somewhere vulnerable and weak to allow M a moment to break free and finally get his hands on Megamind. All he had to do was knock him out, if he was unconscious then the alien would be over powered easily.

"I know the world can seem like it's against you." Roxanne was saying as she took another bold step forward, hands hanging loosely by her sides to show she meant no physical harm to the blue man. "I can't blame you for feeling that way." she continued, "If I had gone through what you had, if I'd been treated like that, if... if I'd lost my legs, and my only friend..."

"Minion." Megamind whispered shakily, the realization and remembering his friend was actually long gone... possibly he always had been gone. Had the Minion he had seen and spoken to all these years been nothing but a hallucination? A by-product of his brain in an attempt to keep him sane, and in control? He found it painful to accept the fact, that he had been actually alone all along. His only friend had been created by a need to have him there, as if an extension of his soul and was now gone. Gone and lost forever.

Roxanne didn't expect the blue alien's shoulders to suddenly tremble, nor the tears to suddenly appear in his eyes. His tears were clear, just like a humans, and they poured down his cheeks, stinging when they made contact with his broken nose. Megamind gasped, and lifted a hand to his face, and felt the wetness there. "I-I'm leaking. Why am I leaking?" he asked shakily.

"You're crying." Roxanne said softly as she reached into a pocket and pulled out a tissue and held it out to him. "Here..."

Megamind stared at her outstretched hand and at the tissue she held. Carefully he reached out and took the tissue without touching her hand. He opened it and pressed it to his face, where most of it instantly burned away because of his blood still smeared on his face. He gasped and wiped at his sore nose with his fingers, the blood burning through his gloves but not his flesh, so he quickly wiped away the dried blood and tears. It looked as though his body healed itself quickly since the blood, despite how bad the injury was, had already stopped flowing. He bowed his head forward and shuddered, another harsh sob escaping his mouth.

He was alone against the whole world. With Minion with him it had somehow felt doable, as long as he had Minion at his back always supporting him with his unending devotion it could be achieved. Their vengeance, their destruction of the city which had caused nothing but pain and misery for the two of them. But now, he was alone. Totally and utterly alone on a world full of aliens who hated him.

Roxanne could feel her heart breaking as she watched him cry into the partly dissolved tissue. He suddenly seemed to small to her, despite all the heels and leather with the spikes. What stood before her wasn't a megalomaniac, or a crazed mad man Hell bent on a justice he would never truly achieve. What she saw was a lost, scared, lonely little boy who had nobody in the world to turn to. She looked at the fallen M, who was quietly watching all of this with an uncertain look on his face. He too didn't seem to know what to do, or how to comprehend the situation. His job was to do away with evil and while Megamind was all shades of evil, he was also something completely different.

"Why are you crying?" Roxanne softly asked, one hand still clutching at the tissues she had pulled from her pocket.

So that's what it was called. Crying. In all his years of life, despite what pain he had been in physically and emotionally, Megamind had never cried. Even when he felt the doctors strapping him down onto the operating table after his failed attempt at escaping his solitude for the first time. Despite feeling their tools of torture slicing into his flesh, muscle and bones to cut away the ruptured tissue and shattered bone from his fall down the elevator shaft he hadn't cried. Yes he had screamed at the top of his lungs, and had thrashed until they gave him a sedative to at least calm him but kept him awake, and aware of his surroundings and the pain in his body, he still had not cried. In all his years, up until this moment, standing over his fallen foe and realizing that everything he thought to be truth to be false and nobody else to blame but himself, he had never shed a single tear.

"I... I..." he started shakily, and lifted his gaze to look at her. "I'm alone." Megamind spoke quietly, barely above a breath of a whisper. Roxanne had to strain her ears to hear him, to hear the defeat in that single sentence once again ripped into her heart.

This was a man she should loathe and despise. Not only had he brought death upon countless people involved in his capture and life, but who knew how many others had fallen because of his puppeteering of the Doom Syndicate. Every day there were deaths in the city, through the gangs that were all connected through the Doom Syndicate. And today, just how many had been injured in his attack upon the city or the aftermath of that giant robot which had ran through the streets? On top of that he had watched her, stalked her, watched her, followed her home and who knew what else he had done what she wasn't even aware of. Yet despite all these points, she couldn't feel any hatred towards him. The only thing she did feel was sorrow and pity. He hadn't asked to become this way, he hadn't requested for a life of anguish and loneliness, for disillusionment and insanity.

She wouldn't even wish his life upon her worst enemy.

Roxanne was closer then Megamind remembered her being, since when he lifted his head finally she was right there in front of him. He normally would have jumped back and pushed any person who dare approach him so closely away in disgust but here he simply stared at her, his tired, exhausted eyes speaking volumes. What happened in the following moments though astounded him. Her arms lifted, the tissues in her grasp fell to the floor, and her arms wrapped themselves around his shoulders. Luckily for her majority of the spikes that he wore on his shoulder pads had been knocked off or bent at odd angles because of this fighting with M, but she could still feel the metal pinch against her arms but she didn't care. She rested her head against his, her eyes shut.

She could feel how still he was in the embrace, it felt as though his whole body had frozen up and was unsure of what to do in reaction. It took a moment or two but his arms finally slowly raised, and they wrapped around her back and he hugged her in return. Something spoke to him, quietly, that this was the first, last, and only embrace he would know. His eyes slipped shut and he knew that he had to remember this for however much longer he was for this world, to remember what it meant to have Roxanne holding him and him holding her. Was he being too stiff? She was holding him so warm and closely yet his arms felt in comparison to be so cold and unfeeling but he didn't know how to be soft, or loving. It was a totally alien concept to the alien.

"You aren't alone." Roxanne's breath was on his cheek, and flitted over his ear which turned only made him blush deeper then he already was. His face over his broken nose, cheeks and now his ears were a rich purple color one might expect to find on an egg plant and definitely not on the skin of a blue alien. Megamind opened his mouth to say something but found his breath had been stolen away because Roxanne was slowly pulling herself away from him, at least that's what it felt like at first. Her arms remained steadfast though, and he realized only her head was pulling back. Despite how calming and comforting her words were, he wanted to push her away and laugh at her foolishness. There was nobody else in this world like him, to work with him like Minion had. Even those clones he had made back in his true base were simple, single-minded fish who only knew eating, sleeping, and destroying things once told to and to always obey him. They would never be Minion, never in a million years.

He never got to do any of this though, for he felt soft warmth suddenly spread over his body and it originated from his lips. Green eyes flung themselves open and all he could see was Roxanne's eyelids and he realized what was happening. She was kissing him. She, the beautiful, talented, and confident woman was kissing him and it had been her idea. Was this pity for pities sake? She couldn't feel anything for him romantically or physically, so why? Why...? Why didn't he find himself caring? His mind, his amazingly complex machine of a mind that was normally thinking a million things in but a fraction of a second became alarmingly blank. No thoughts entered his mind. No fears, no concerns, nothing. It was almost a blessing, to finally hear silence between his ears and not the constant roll and crashing of thoughts like the waves on a beach crashing into the sand and rocks that met them.

He was crying again, since he could feel the sting of water against his still sore nose and cheeks but he didn't dare pull back to wipe at his face. That would mean he would have to stop this moment of perfect silence, a moment between two people and witnessing something that would surely never take place again no matter how hard he, or she, might try to replicate.

All good things must come to an end. It was a phrase he never truly understood until this moment in his life, for he felt her lips leaving him as well as her arms. Roxanne was releasing him back into the world, the desolate, lonely, and dangerous world. But he knew they couldn't stay together forever, not in this lifetime anyway. Megamind shivered and gasped once he found himself capable of and pressed his hands to his face, not wishing to open them and see what kind of world he was stuck in yet. As he blocked it out, Roxanne, whose own face was now deep red from a blush and tears upon her face, shakily rubbed at her face. What exactly had compelled her to do that was beyond her scope right now, maybe it would make sense in the aftermath of this maddening day, when she was safe.

She suddenly saw M begin to get to his feet. He looked, even by just seeing a clear shot of his mouth and jaw and nothing else, fairly confused and conflicted. Roxanne lifted her hands, and shook her head, silently pleading with him to not hurt him. Reading her expression, M gave her a confused look and held his hands out, questioning her actions. Despite all he had learned this day, the good and the bad, the twisted individual standing just to his right was bad. As bad as a person could go before being swallowed up by the darkness. He had to do something, anything.

It wasn't personal. It was just his job.

"Protect her." Megamind suddenly said behind his hands.

M was about to question just what he had in store now, when the answer came. The whole world seemed to suddenly scream, and shake. The ground beneath their feet began to crumble and crack as if it was made of paper, and the ceiling began to suddenly cave in, the foundation of the building having been pushed to its extremes by the battle within could finally take no more. The hero acted on impulse, he flew at Roxanne and the next thing he knew they were out of the crumbling building. M was totally unaware of just how fast he could go, having repressed his powers for majority of his life, so this was just as shocking for him as it was to Roxanne who was gasping for breath and gripping at his arms. She turned in his arms and looked to the building, her eyes wide with horror as the building folded in on itself as if it were a deck of cards. The ground crumbled and shook, and the groan of the dying building echoed long and hard around the docklands, enhanced by the sound of crunching metal and smaller explosions from within.

M used his cape to protect himself and Roxanne from the dust and smaller debris which shot out from the demolished building like a tsunami. It rained down around them, those larger parts of metal and stone bouncing off M as if they were made of felt material.

Soon it was quiet, and still. The building was demolished, and Megamind was gone.

"NO!" Roxanne heard a voice scream, and was astonished to learn it was her own. Despite the dust thick in the air and how it chocked at her throat and clouded her eyes she pried herself out from M's protective hold and staggered forward a few steps before stumbling over something and fell over. "NO! GOD, NO!" she screamed again, her shoulders shaking from a pain she had never experienced in her life. She felt like she could throw up, her throat was tight and constricted and her stomach was in knots and her eyes hot from tears and the dust.

Slowly M approached her, and knelt down besides her on the ground, and wrapped his arm around her in an attempt to stop her shaking but found it impossible.

"Is-is he..." she started, unable to stop the sentence. "Ca-can you h-hear him?" Roxanne lifted her tear streaked face to stare up at the man. "Can you?"

M lifted his head and he seemed to be concentrating. He listened. He heard the ground still shaking, though very gently, from the aftermath. Metal was groaning, and he could hear a small fire licking at some metal and wood from within the rubble and he could even hear the dust in the air. "No. I can't hear him."

Roxanne bent over and smothered her face with her hands, and sobbed.


	13. Chapter 13

The Observatory over Metro City had always been a sign to most. Once upon a time it called upon the desire to know the stars, to seek out beyond their scope and reach for the stars. Yet after the earthquake of '65 and the collapse of the bridge, it was as if the powers that be were cutting them off from the new science. As if they weren't meant to fully comprehend, or understand the stars, at that time. Naturally a new observatory was in the planning but the finances behind it had always been put aside for other newer projects, leaving the old abandoned observatory to slowly rust and rot. Naturally over the years teenagers had taken tries at reaching the observatory, a place to smoke without being seen, but once their own rope bridge had given into the elements they decided to try and find greener pastures in which to loiter, drink, smoke and make out. It had left the old building ripe for the picking, and what a home an escape alien had made it in his years of living in it.

How would anyone know that the mountain beneath it was hollowed out, and that levels of machines of destructive capabilities lay hidden just beneath the surface? It was like something out of a science fiction movie, that's what it was like. There were the robots that were as tall as buildings, the smaller ones that were to have cloned alien fish implanted in them, as well as explosives and other deadly things. Megamind had proudly called it home, once upon a time, but now it stood there alone and empty.

It felt eerily cold. At least, colder than it normally was. Living inside a mountain wasn't really known for having good heating. Towards the very bottom of the hidden base, beneath the bedroom was where a long forgotten, abandoned, railway system lay. From within this damp, dark, empty tunnel space there came the sound of footsteps. Up above in the security system of the hidden fortress an alarm silently rang, and ten Brain Bots were set off to destroy the intruder, as was their job as Watch Bots. As they flew through an exit/entrance way leading into the tunnels, their heads acted as flashlights and they sought out the one who had set off their security alarm.

"Gow?" asked one of them who spotted shoes first and flew quickly before stopping short in mid air, as did the others once they spotted whom it was.

Megamind stood bathed in the glow of multiple blue orbs, and smiled despite the dust that clung to his body and the blood that was still smeared on his face and small cuts along his head and exposed left arm. Both of his boots were missing, revealing his metallic legs and feet that were dented. Ones inner workings was even visible upon the calf, gears and a spring clearly sticking out for the world to see.

They flew in circles around their daddy as he slowly made his way back into the base. He gripped the tall ladder that would take him to the bottom of his base, and he took his time rather then fly himself up there. But instead of making his way through to his bathroom to clean up he made his way up through to the security room. It reminded him so much of the facility down underground, how white he had made the room. It felt sterile; as if it had to keep clean despite all odds and how many times he would come up here with grease on his hands or on his boots. He unfastened his shoulder pads and let them fell to the ground, leaving him in just his one-piece spandex suit with his De-Gun slung on his side as always. He eased into his chair and leaned back, and watched the city.

He watched as the emergency people were assisting those who needed help, or were injured. Looked like they had somehow brought down his smoke machine, and his Brain Bots that had gone out with it. Surprisingly, he didn't feel angry or the need to lash back at them with a bigger robot. He looked to one screen, showing a paramedic bandaging an older woman's arm as she lay on a gurney. Another screen showed a fireman helping a child out of a partly destroyed building. In practically every scene he could see tragedy, and yet it all still glowed from the hope that shun through… like a cloud with a silver lining. Yet that silver lining hurt, like a knife to the stomach.

"I did this." he said quietly, shakily.

Megamind tugged his gloves off and tossed them aside before reaching for one single button and pressed it. All throughout the city, robots that had been built to wait dormant until a certain date arrived, suddenly woke up. Blue eyes opened in the darkness, and arms slowly drew out from within large torsos. Instead of punching their way up through to the surface as they were programmed to do in order to spread devastation and death, they turned, and began slowly and carefully make their way back home towards the observatory. They were all giants, but would just fit within the hollowed out mountain under which the observatory was built.

As time began to pass, beneath him he could hear the moveable floors begin to slide up and out of the way. They all stacked neatly, nothing breaking, or shattering... he had designed it to be this way, after all. He had once had plans to create the largest robot anyone had ever witnessed beneath his hill, to have it erupt like a monster from the depths to set the whole city on fire. Now that plan was trashed, never having reached its fruition. This was a good thing, he told himself as he leaned forward and put his hands to his head as he felt the ground slowly vibrate through the slow movements of robotic giants.

He got to his feet, metal clinking on the floor as he did, and made his way to the elevator platform and took it to the floor that held all of his fish. They were sleeping, unaware of all what was happening and he preferred it that way. Maybe, he thought, a part of him had always hoped he would redeem himself since it looked as though he had built the tank with an expressway. The little fishes were to be 'flushed' out into the ocean surrounding the city, where they could live out their lives as any fish would. They would eat their fill, stay in a group, and know to avoid people and large ships like the plague. He pressed his hand to the glass before pressing his forehead to it as well, and looked at the group of fifty glowing fish and smiled sadly.

"Daddy's sorry." he whispered and pressed another button. He watched as their small eyes opened in alarm as the water began to churn, and waved at them as they suddenly vanished down a large tube that had opened in the tanks, and each and every fish was sucked down into it. They belonged in the water, in the wide-open water. Not stuck in robot bodies, that wasn't right at all… it was not fair to the small creatures to be condemned to such a fate.

Megamind left on the platform again and didn't stop until he reached the very top of the observatory floors, where the large telescope sat there alone and forgotten. How many hours had he spent in that lone chair, staring out in the skies, hoping he would see something. He, naturally, never had. It was just another grim reminder of just how alone in the world he was now, just like it had been then. He walked up to the telescope and sat slowly into it and using a flex of his hand the large doors eased open. Putting his eyes to the telescope he watched the night sky, twinkling in the far distance, all so very far away. He felt tears in his eyes again but did nothing to wipe them away this time, he had nobody to impress anymore.

Pulling away he shut his eyes and took another shuddering breath. His hearts were aching, just like his head.

Over the next hour the robots from throughout the city continued to make their way home, and shuffle into their proper positions so they could all stand clustered with each other. There was only six of them, as if each one represented the six aliens who had landed in America and had been snatched up by the government. In this time Megamind gathered as much information as he could. He took the folder that he had stolen and de-hydrated into a small blue cube when he had finally escaped the facility and put them into a large brown envelope. Within this envelope now was all the information regarding the government conspiracy about the aliens, how they were indeed real, and just how far they had gone to cover up not just the truth but also the treatment of the one known as Number Six.

They would be delivered where they belonged, no doubt about that.

It wasn't long until all of the robots were back, each one with their arms folded into their bodies so they could all stand there in conflicting ways. Each of them was a piece of mechanical wonderment, and no doubt would be worth millions if purchased by people and used to finish, or start, a war far too quickly. In fact that's what all of Megamind's creations could do. They could wipe out people so easily, as if stamping on ants and laughing over the poor creatures whose lives had been snuffed short just because you were either clumsy, or in a bad mood.

Standing here, now, he realized just how wrong he was and how wrong it was to continue any of it. He truly had no right to do what he had planned majority of his life in doing. Humanity may have its faults, but didn't ever species on this planet, much less all in existence in the universe? For every bad thing there was a good thing, and if bad actually won out... what then? There would be no challenge. Life would loose all meaning, and Megamind didn't want life to leave all meaning.

"No." he said quietly. "Six. I am Six."

Six took a shuddered breath and pressed a hand to his face and felt the tears begin to flow down his face once more. Instead of wiping them away he moved his hand so his wrist was to his mouth. His free hand found the little watch there and twisted the face and spoke into it. "Code, End of Days." he said solemnly.

What happened next ended up plastered all over the local newspapers for over a week, all but shadowing the attack of the blue master villain known as Megamind. The old abandoned observatory had been there one minute, but the next it was crumbling like a stack of cards. People would report poor foundation, which years of being left to its own devices and bad weather had eaten away at the mountain beneath the large tower. That was the reason that it had begun to cave in on itself. Nobody spoke of the explosions from within the dirt and rock that lit up the early morning skies that day, or the sound of tearing and screaming metal that tore into the skies so loudly it sent flocks of bird skywards in a panic.

Rocks and metal went tumbling into the oceans, sending small tidal waves crashing into nearby beaches and giving some surfers a surprise that they hadn't anticipated. The docklands which, only the night before, had experienced a mild earth quake, was covered in sea water but nothing so powerfully it would knock over buildings thankfully.

Helicopters were soon surrounding the destroyed observatory, which now was nothing bit large rocks and dirt, broken and shattered trees and unknown to them, a lair of evil which had been destroyed and buried amongst the rubble and wreckage, never to be found. The site upon which the old observatory had stood was now a small island, totally cut off from the rest of the city. It was named Observation Island and was left as inhabitant free. Months later birds would begin to build their nests on the island, safe from feral cats and other animals. There they lived peacefully, and raised their young. It truly became a lovely island to which people flocked to observe from an observation deck built where the old bridge to the Observatory used to be.

Being a news anchor Roxanne was able to learn information not many others were privy to straight after they happen. The morning of the explosion she was shocked to learn, over her phone, that disaster had fallen upon the three heads of the Doom Syndicate. The sewage system that Psycho Delic called his base had exploded, the high tech drug facilities held within literally exploded. Most suspected a naked flame plus some gas equalled the explosion, yet Roxanne didn't feel like that was the reason behind it. Meanwhile Destruction Worker's own machinery turned on him, tore its way through his hide out before blowing up themselves and took out half of his goons in the process. He himself was knocked out, and taken to hospital where he was placed under arrest.

Hot Flash was not exempt from the destruction that seemed to be befalling her brothers in arms. Her boots that she had been wearing at the time exploded. The woman had been in the middle of flying so her fall was well documented on nearby security cameras but it was considered luck she landed in a fountain and didn't suffer too many injuries. Unfortunately when landing in the water the worst possible thing to happen to the woman, did. Her hair got wet, and went out. And just as she feared, with the loss of her hair, her flame abilities vanished with her. In a single stroke the three big heads of crime in Metro City had been done in, and with little to no actions of anyone.

At least that was the belief.

Because of recent events Roxanne Ritchi had returned to work earlier than she had anticipated. She had been on the other end of a microphone for the better half of a month, talking about what she had experienced at the hands of Megamind and what had happened. Did she believe him truly to be dead, or had he simply vanished back into the shadows in order to be lured out once again when everyone least suspect it? She told them they did. She had seen the destruction and due to the tidal waves the morning after most of the rubble of the old building had been washed away, along with any evidence that Megamind had ever been there.

The only thing that was found was a robot hand, which had belonged to a gorilla suit.

Now, though, Roxanne was just paying a cab for dropping her off home. It was raining. As she approached the door way and her door man Carlos had began hurrying up to the door to hold it up for her she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Uh?" she turned and asked smartly, and found herself face to face with a young man. Despite the rain, he was wearing sunglasses, and was dressed in postal worker clothes that were soaking wet and clung to his slim frame. He looked no older than at least thirty years old.

"Sorry." he said gruffly and held up a large brown package for her. "Miss Ritchi this is for you."

"Isn't it a little late for a mail run?" she asked as she took the package and was surprised at just how heavy it was in her hands, since going by how easily he was holding it the package didn't look heavy at all. Checking the return address but found nothing written there. "Who is this from?" Roxanne asked, noticing that the writing was beginning to run due to the rain. Not getting an answer she lifted her gaze but saw that the man was gone. She looked around, then looked to Carlos who was still standing there holding the door open for her to enter. "Come on Miss Ritchi you'll catch ya death!" he called out.

She was going to ask if he had seen anyone but she heard the distant sound of an engine starting and the soft rumble of tires as they drove through the wet rain. As she entered the door she glanced over her shoulder, but all she could see was the rain continually falling hard onto the world outside her door and nothing else.

_The End of the Beginning_


End file.
